


The white star

by KimsyWims



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Blow Jobs, Bucky is a little shit, Canon-Typical Violence, Captain!Bucky, Fluff, HYDRA is still up to bad things, Hurt/Comfort, Kisses, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Period-Typical Homophobia, Phil is still a captain america fanboy, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Bucky Barnes, Sexual Tension, Sexy Times, Shenanigans, Smut, Steve is a little shit, Stucky - Freeform, slight AU, sort of, super soldier shenanigans, the other avengers is up for a lot of trouble, will start at The avengers and stretch over the rest of the movies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-06-05 10:57:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 59,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6702025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimsyWims/pseuds/KimsyWims
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Steve wakes up from the ice, Bucky is already there to have his six.<br/>No one had anticipated what kind of mischief two super soldiers in their nineties could come up with, especially not since they still are the most efficient soldiers on the field. </p><p>However, just because HYDRA lost their asset, doesn't mean they gave up their plan on taking over the world, they are simply waiting for the right moment. </p><p>An AU where Bucky escaped HYDRA about six months before Steve woke up. (Stucky fluff ensured starting from chapter one along with Steve being a little shit and Bucky being a prankster.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wake up sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve wakes up, goes for a run and get's tackled by his old boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is a Stucky fic through and through. There will be fluff, angst, adventures, a lot of mischief, pranks, Steve and Bucky being little shits, mayham and more from these two goofballs. Hope you will enjoy!

Steve had laid down on the floor of the plane before it had crashed. He had figured since he was about to die, he might as well be as comfortable as possible while doing it. And really, he'd been okay with dying, he'd see his ma again say hello to his pops. He'd see a good lot of friends he'd made in the war that also had died for their country. 

But most importantly, he'd see Bucky again, and this time there wouldn't be anyone keeping them apart. Or well, so he had hoped, he knew that god didn't approve of two men together but... him and Bucky had done a ton of good stuff that should weight it up. That had been his last thought before he had frozen over, Bucky had been in his last thoughts. 

And yet, that had all been denied him as he slowly opened his eyes and stared up at an unfamiliar roof. 

There was a fan spinning slowly above him, somewhere from a corner of the room there was the quiet sound of a radio broadcasting a game. He had been ready to dismiss it for what it was, unimportant background noise, but then  he had actually listened and realized he'd heard it all before. Or rather, he'd _seen_ it before, he'd been on that game, with Bucky. 

It set the alarm bells off in his head and he slowly sat up. It felt a bit like his head was filled up to the edge by cotton and he was stiff all over. But that wasn't the worst, the worst was that he had no idea where he was, how he'd gotten there or what was going on. He just knew that something was wrong and he wasn't sure he wanted to know exactly what that something was. 

Steve wasn't given the time to get up and try to figure this out either, before the door opened and a young woman walked into the room. But even she was wrong. Firstly, her hair was far too long for a military woman, secondly her skirt was too tight and just the slightest too long, that would not me efficient in an attack. Thirdly, her shirt should have been a beige or green color with her rank on the sleeve. He had only seen Peggy with a white shirt because she was in a special part of the army. 

Fourth, her smile was clearly enough forced for even Steve to take notice of her tension. 

"Good morning." She said with that tight smile before she looked at her watch. "Or should I say afternoon?" As if she hadn't known before stepping into the room. 

"Where am I?"

Steve was in no mood for whatever game this was. He wasn't in the mood to find out too late it was a trap that he should have disarmed quicker nor was he in the mood for anyone bullshitting him. Which he had a firm feeling that this woman was about to do. 

"You're in a recovery room in New York city." She said, but Steve knew she was hiding something.

"Where am I really?" He asked again, patience running very thin. 

The woman for a moment had the look of someone who had just been busted, but quickly switched it into a smile and breathed out a tiny laugh. But Steve had lived in close contact with Bucky his entire life, he knew when someone was keeping things from him, only when Bucky would get busted keeping something from him Bucky'd spill the beans almost at once unless it was Steve's birthday coming up. 

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Clearly this woman was going to continue to play stupid.

"The game, it's from May nineteen forty one. I know cause I was there." He informed her as he slowly stood up from the bed. The woman's face dropped, maybe finally she was ready to give him the truth so they  could leave this charade behind them. "So, I'm gonna ask you again. Where am I? He asked with a little more force as he approached her.

"Captain rogers..." She began but he had enough of that bullshitting around.

"Who are you!" He all but demanded. 

But the door opened behind her before she could answer and two armed men dressed in black walked into the small room. Steve didn't give them chance to attack him. Black clothes and big guns was standard issue of HYDRA and Steve didn't have any clue of where his shield was. All he knew was that he wouldn't let them figure out Dr Erskine's formula by having his blood, that's for damn sure. 

When he knocked them both out by hurling them simultaneously to the wall, the wall gave in and Steve jumped out after them. His small room was inside a larger room with panels outside his fake windows to make him believe it had been an actual room. Not that he had time to go sight seeing right now, he had to get the hell out of there, to find out where he was. 

"Captain Rogers, wait!" The woman called after him, but Steve didn't stop. 

Instead he ran through a double set of doors, straight out to a hall with more black dressed agents. He could hear the woman on the speakers announcing a code thirteen. He could guess that meant him and quickly set off towards the closest exit, dodging agents as best he could on his way until he found himself out on the street, running between cars. 

He didn't have a clue where he was running, just knew to keep going. He needed to find Peggy, Howard, Philips or the commandos. Anyone he could trust to tell him the truth about what had happened. How long he'd been out and how he was even back. How many months must he have been out? It felt like summer weather and it certainly hadn't been summer when he had went in. 

He slowed just the slightest when he ran straight into times square, so he really was in New York... that meant he knew what way Brooklyn was directed and he could either contact the others on the base or hide out in Bucky's and his apartment. The thought made his stomach turn, because he'd never see Bucky in that place again... but he still picked up the pace and picked his direction. 

His plan however, was quickly taken down by someone barreling into him with force enough to throw them both into a roll on the ground and someone rather heavy ended up on top of his back while he laid chest down to the asphalt. He heard cars pull up around him, heard the opening and closing of doors, and saw several of them from his position to the ground.

He tried to roll them around but the person on top of him countered him by pressing down his shoulder and put more weight to his back, keeping him immobile to the ground. Steve had managed to catch a glance of red and white stripes and some blue, also metal glinting in the sun and he had to admit he was really, really confused. 

"Fuck Steve! Stop! It's me." A way too familiar voice grunted in his ear. 

Steve went entirely still over that voice. The last time he had heard that voice, it had said  _"I had him on the ropes."_ It was impossible, must be some kind of trick... But Steve would know that voice anywhere. 

"Bucky?" He breathed out. 

"Yeah, don't punch me on the nose okay, I'll let y'up." Bucky huffed. 

The weight to his back lifted and a strong hand helped him up from the ground. Steve stared at the man in front of him, dressed in a captain america suit with a lot more black and with a lot longer hair along with a stubble... but it was no doubt that it was Bucky. Bucky holding his hands on Steve's shoulders and Steve holding his hand on Bucky's chest, clutching slightly at the blue material by the white star. 

"Bucky." He said stupidly again. 

"Hey punk." Bucky replied with a relieved smile before Steve was tugged into a full body hug. "It's really you." Bucky mumbled into his shoulder. 

Steve just melted against Bucky's body. Bucky was bigger than he remembered, not by much, but definitely more muscles, but it smelled just right. A hint of cigarette smoke, that oil he always used for his rifles and some soft of aftershave that he'd always been impressed Bucky seemed to find wherever they went on their missions with the commandos. 

Bucky was there, Bucky was hugging him and Bucky was most definitely not dead. The man Steve had loved since he was just a scrawny eight year old kid from Brooklyn, was once again there, hugging him close like if life depended on this hug. Steve couldn't blame him though, he was most likely hugging Bucky exactly the same way. 

"You fell off a train Buck..." He said quietly against Bucky's shoulder.

"Captain Barnes." Another voice said from behind them. "We should get moving."

Bucky sighed and pulled away from the hug. Steve missed Bucky's touch at once, but as he glanced around he realized they were attracting a crowd. The man who had spoken was a guy with short hair and sunglasses. It was odd to hear him say Captain Barnes, in Steve's world, Bucky had always been sarge to the guys. It made him wonder just how long time he had missed. How much he had missed. 

"I know, just give us a moment Phil." Bucky answered the man before he smiled at Steve. "C'me on, let's get inside. You've been asleep for a real long time and I say you deserve breakfast."

"How long?" Steve asked, and Buck gave him that look, the look people did when they tried to avoid things. "How long Buck..."

Bucky sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Seventy years, give or take." He finally admitted. 

Steve just stared for a moment, then sighed deeply. Well, that date with Peggy was definitely something he was officially too late for. Not that it mattered, Bucky was right there, Peggy had been... he liked Peggy but not like he liked Bucky, but Bucky had been dead. 

"You okay Stevie?"

"Peggy asked me out." He sighed. 

"Oh fuck...I'm so sorry Steve. I know she... uhm means a lot to you, she uh... married Sousa. I always said he was saucy didn't I?"

"Come on. Buck!" Steve groaned. "Ten minutes and you're making puns."

"How punny of me." Bucky said with a shit eating grin. 

"Buck!" 

Bucky laughed lightly and gently pushed him back to one of the black cars. The car where the agent Bucky had called Phil stood by an open door, waiting for them. Steve had so many questions that he wasn't even sure where he wanted to start. Most of them were about Bucky, about how seventy years had passed and somehow Bucky was alive and well, somehow right here. 

But instead of asking, he let Bucky shoo him into the black van and Steve made himself comfortable in the backseat. Bucky slipped in after him but decided to take up the middle seat even if it was only the two of them who was going to sit in the back. Steve watched as Bucky slid the shield off his back, Steve's shield, and put it on the empty seat. 

That did explain why Bucky had a more sneaky version of the captain america suit. Bucky's clothes were black with a triangle at his stomach with the red and white stripes and from his pectoral muscles to his shoulder a blue fabric. In the center of his chest the white star. Steve had to admit, it suited him and he thought about his own suit and how they would make a match. 

"So, Peggy huh?" Bucky interrupted his thoughts when the door closed and they sat there, close to each other. 

"Yeah, she thought my stumbling around was cute I suppose." Steve said with a blush. 

"I think you're cute." Bucky said with an innocent smile. 

"Bucky!" 

Steve nervously glanced at Phil in the front seat, Phil that Steve was sure could hear every word they were saying. Had Bucky gone insane? Did he want them both to end up in jail just so Bucky could flirt with him? Bucky just chuckled lightly and leaned to him slightly, it was a comforting weight but he was still tense and worried about what the agent in the front seat would do when he figured out Bucky meant his flirt.

"Oh don't worry'bout it Stevie, Phil ain't a snitch. In fact, s'not even illegal anymore. No one gonna arrest me for sayin'y're cute." Bucky said with a cheeky smile. 

Steve was aware his blush had most likely spread down to his toes over how Bucky had moved his head close, lips nearly brushing to Steve's cheek where Steve hung his head. They had been a thing before, a very secret thing that only got short stolen moments, but a thing nonetheless. Ever since Steve had been nineteen he'd been Bucky's secret boyfriend and Bucky had been his.

All the skirts, the dames Bucky went out with, it had been a cover so no one would suspect them. But Steve had always known Bucky always would come back to him by the end of the night. It had been a dream to be allowed Bucky as more than just a secret, but he had always known a dream was all it could be and now Bucky said it could be more... Steve couldn't quite believe that.

"C'me on Stevie." Bucky mumbled close to his ear. "Just a peck? Promise I ain't got no cooties." Bucky said and made his best puppy look. The long hair really did help making Bucky even cuter. 

"Buck... we're gonna get arrested." Steve mumbled and pressed at Bucky's arm. The one covered in metal that he'd thought was an armor... but he could feel it wasn't with just one touch. It was far too massive. "Bucky... what happened to your arm?" He asked, forgetting all about Bucky's flirting for a moment.

"I don't remember." Bucky said and sighed. "I woke up in a hospital in Asia six months ago, no one knows how I ended up there or what I'd been up to and I had no clue what was going on. All I remembered was... well, falling." 

The way Bucky shivered and looked haunted was enough for Steve to know Bucky wasn't lying to him or keeping anything from him. Bucky had missed seventy years of his life and he had no idea what he had been up to. At least Steve knew where he'd been... at least Steve woke up and was found quickly by Bucky. He couldn't imagine what Bucky must have gone through. 

"Someone must have seen you right? You said seventy years... shouldn't you... well, age?" 

"Nah, apparently I stumbled into the hospital, bleeding pretty much from everywhere and ravaged about a failed mission before I collapsed on the floor. A guy named Fury had me transported here, they found out that somehow I... I don't know, they don't know, I'm like you but different." 

"Zola?" Steve asked, feeling a dread rise in his stomach. 

"I think so. I was the only one they experimented on that survived. Maybe he'd somehow figured something out. I... it's not a favorite topic." Bucky said and looked away. 

It wasn't Steve's favorite subject either so he let it go. At least for now because no matter how many questions he asked, neither him nor Bucky would be able to answer them. So instead he leaned back and closed his eyes, gently leaning just slightly more against Bucky by his side. It wasn't important _how_ Bucky was there, the important part was that Bucky  ** _was_** there, with him. 

"Did you mean it." He asked quietly after a while. "I mean...  he wouldn't... uh... tell anyone?" 

He opened his eyes to look at Bucky who was grinning at him widely. Steve blushed anew and rolled his eyes, pretending that grin didn't make Steve as excited as it did. Trying to pretend he wasn't excited about possibly kissing Bucky even if they weren't alone and someone would be able to see them. But he really was and he knew he had a terrible poker face, there was a reason why he hadn't joined in poker games with the commandos and why he instead had just watched. 

"Yeah, I did. Right Phil? Ain't gonna spill our secrets?" Bucky asked with that grin still on his lips, eyes glued to Steve's lips. 

"Not a word, I never saw a thing." Phil said from the front seat. 

Steve chewed his lower lip and looked at Bucky, then at the agent named Phil, then back at Bucky. He made his decision and quickly leaned in before he had time to change his mind and Bucky met him halfway. Bucky's lips met and pressed to his own lips, slightly dry, but very Bucky and Steve practically melted into a puddle as he closed his eyes and let himself just get swept away by it. 

It they were going to jail he damn sure was going to enjoy this properly. 

Bucky's lips were warm, a bit dry, but just as skilled as he remembered them. Bucky easily took the lead, turning what Steve had intended for a light peck, into a fevered kiss of passion and desire with a lot of tongue. But Steve loved it, he loved how his mouth was invaded by Bucky's tongue, how Bucky actively searched out Steve's own tongue. He enjoyed the small hint of tobacco, something sweet and sugary possibly from candy and that little hint of a flavor Steve always associated with Bucky. 

He had to pull back from the kiss to restrain himself from diving in for more, stopping himself from climbing Bucky's lap and kiss the hell out of him. They were still in a car, they still weren't alone and even if Phil said he wasn't going to report them they really shouldn't push their luck and end up in jail. Not when Steve had his Bucky back. 

When he was able to finally open his eyes again, Bucky was smiling, a happily dazzled smile, the cutest smile Steve possibly'd seen on Buck's lips. As if he'd tasted a piece of heaven. They both had a shit ton of things to talk about and Steve didn't doubt that they had a trying future ahead of them, Steve must have so much to catch up on... but none of that mattered right then and there. 

What mattered was that Steve had his Bucky back and he'd let no one take his Bucky from him ever again. 


	2. the cleaning closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky takes Steve for coffee and they have a meeting with Fury.

"Here, taste this." 

Bucky dropped down in the chair next to Steve's with a big grin on his face and a ridiculously large cup containing something that looked more like ice cream and definitely not coffee. Steve wasn't much of a coffee drinker, mostly because they hadn't been able to afford it back in the days, but he had enjoyed a cup now and then when he could get his hands on it and he knew that _this_ wasn't coffee. 

Three days earlier Steve had woken up and been reunited with Bucky. For the closest three days, the two of them had just been hanging out in Bucky's apartment. Steve had one too, across the hall from Bucky's but to be honest, home was where Bucky  was so they had both just moved the things they wanted into Bucky's apartment and stayed there. 

Their time together had been mostly chatting, Bucky playing on his  _xbox_ which was a black box with games on that he could play on the TV like a movie, color and everything. While Bucky had been playing, Steve had been learning how to use a laptop, Bucky giving helpful hints and pointers and was always there in case Steve did something stupid on it. 

Or more likely, Bucky would distract him with kisses every time he died in the game or there was a sequence where the characters just talked and Bucky got bored. Steve enjoyed it, Bucky wasn't acting as if Steve was just a dumb blond who couldn't understand the new world. Bucky let him figure things out on his own because he knew Steve could do it. If Steve needed the help, Steve simply asked. 

Today was day four and they had been set up to meet with the director of SHIELD, a man named Nick Fury. Bucky had told Steve what he knew about SHIELD and what he knew about Nick and said that Nick was a good man. Secretive as hell but a good man. Steve wasn't overly fond when secrets were being kept from him, but he trusted Bucky's judgement in this one. 

On the way to SHIELD, Bucky had pulled Steve into a starbucks, a coffee shop that Bucky said was great. During the three days at Bucky's place, they hadn't had coffee. Steve hadn't really thought about it since coffee was too expensive to have home in their time, but he was now reevaluating that and wondered why Bucky didn't have coffee home. 

"What is it?" Steve asked and stared at the see through cup. "Weren't you gonna buy coffee? This looks like an ice cream, Buck."

"That Stevie, is a double caramel frappuchino with extra cream and toppings!" Bucky said with a laugh. "It's a now day coffee. Just give it a taste Stevie." 

Steve looked dubiously at Bucky then back at the coffee cup. If he hadn't been absolutely sure he couldn't have a heart attack, he'd fear that maybe he'd get one by this so called  _coffee._ It smelled like sugar and not very coffee like, it was served with a straw and had little chocolate sprinkles on the top. But, Bucky had said this was coffee now days, he supposed he better get used to it. 

With another deep sigh he tried the sugar bomb of a coffee... and nearly choked on it. It was a bit like stuffing his mouth full of sugar, mix it with cream and chewing on a coffee bean. Christ, it must have been the most disgusting thing Steve had ever tasted in his entire life but he could see why Bucky liked it, Bucky loved sugar and sweets. 

"There's no way that's called coffee Buck!" He exclaimed when he had stopped coughing. "There is no way  _that_ is even counted as coffee." 

"It is! There was a coffee crisis in fifty seven and this is the only  coffee they make these days." Bucky said with a laugh. "They call'em frappuchinos instead." 

Steve just stared in horror at the cup in front of him. That didn't seem healthy at all, but it would explain why Bucky didn't have any coffee at home... He wish he would have known so he could have googled because right now, he wasn't sure if Bucky was just messing with him or not. The easy way Bucky said it made Steve believe it, but yet again, Bucky had been the guy who talked Stark into eating a raw egg he'd found in an empty bird nest, calling it a Brooklyn delicacy.

His suspicions that Bucky was messing with him was confirmed when Bucky broke out in laughter and buried his face in his arm leaning to the table. Steve smacked him over his head, which only made Bucky laugh even more. Steve managed to keep a glare for exactly  five seconds before he broke out laughing as well. Bucky really was a terrible man, but he was Steve's terrible man and Steve really should have seen that one coming. 

"Gimme my real coffee you jerk!" Steve said with another laugh and shook his head in amusement.

"Ya should'a seen ya face." Bucky said, still chuckling and handed Steve a cup that smelled like **real**  coffee. 

"You are terrible, remember y'were the one who started it Buck." Steve warned.

"Bring it punk." Bucky said with s grin and grabbed the disguising coffee to drink it. 

"You really think that's good?" Steve asked in disbelief. "There's got to be limits even for you." 

"Have you ever known me not to love sweets?" Bucky asked with a cheeky smile.

"You planned this didn't ya?" 

"You really think I wouldn't have coffee at home?" Bucky asked with a grin.

Steve just shook his head with a smile. This was exactly how he remembered Bucky, a total goof who always was up to something stupid and could take days to keep up with the stupid for a very silly punchline. Maybe Steve liked it so much because he did the same thing, only he had a terrible poker face while Bucky could just smile his charming smile and people would trust him with anything. Or maybe it was because this was how Bucky had always been, even when they were here, seventy years into a really odd future, Bucky was still Bucky.

After a while they made their way over to the SHIELD high quarters and Bucky lead them to an elevator. Steve wasn't overly fond of heights, for obvious reasons like crashing a plane and loosing Bucky on that train. Bucky was alive and so was he, but it still had done enough to make him uncomfortable with heights. Despite that, he did rather enjoy the view as he looked out through the glass of the elevator. 

Bucky stood leaned to the railing, relaxed as if it was nothing beside Steve. Steve wondered if it was because Bucky didn't have any trouble with heights, or if it was because Bucky had done it so many times that he'd stopped being uncomfortable with it. Bucky smiled at him and let his hand brush against Steve's and Steve relaxed slightly. If this thing went down, he'd have time to grab Bucky's hand, make sure neither of them fell. 

But the smile on Bucky's lips fell when the elevator stopped and a group of four agents walked in. They were dressed in combat gear, armed with weapons Steve wasn't entirely sure what they did. These guys wouldn't have hit him as very strange though, there had been more agents in the building, but the way Bucky sort of... tensed up and became stone faced, Steve didn't like that. 

"Captain Barnes... Captain Rogers." A brunet said, most likely head of the group. "Welcome out of the ice."

"Rumlow." Bucky said short and kept his eyes straight at the elevator doors.

"Thanks." Steve said, on the edge, ready for action by Bucky's reaction.

But they all just kind of stood there in tense silence. Steve would probably prefer having a go with Shmidt again rather than stand around here much longer. It felt like just before a fight broke out, only the fight never broke out, they were locked in that just before feeling.

Luckily, Bucky dragged him quickly out of the elevator at the next stop, clearly making an effort to not as much as brush against the man Bucky had called Rumlow. Bucky didn't relax again until the elevator doors closed and Steve glanced down at their hands. Bucky had grabbed his hand and was still holding on. Usually, Steve would have been uncomfortable with it, he had understood two men together wasn't such a big deal these days, but it still was big for him. 

But right now Bucky needed it, he didn't have to say it, Steve just knew, and he squeezed Bucky's hand a little tighter, dragging Bucky to a stop so he could look at him properly. Clearly there was some bad blood between Bucky and this guy Rumlow, Steve would always have Bucky's back but he wanted to know if the other had done something to make Bucky this pissed off at him. 

"So... what did they do?" Steve asked when he was sure they were alone. 

"Honestly? They haven't done anything. They're good at the field, quick, efficient. Rumlow is really good at finishing mission with as little casualties as possible. I just can't stand the guy. Him and half of the STRIKE team. They didn't really do anything, I just see them and want to punch them in the face." Bucky said, looking honestly frustrated over himself.

"Hm, y'put ice in their shoes yet? Like we did with Hardy?" 

Bucky just stared at him and Steve smiled innocently. They hadn't liked Hardy either back in school. He had been a bully and really rude so one winter the two of them had stuffed his shoes full of snow and ran before anyone noticed them. They hadn't quite hated Hardy as much after that since all they could think about seeing him was the girlish scream he had let out when stuffing his feet in half melted snow.

"Steve... You're a genius." Bucky said with a huge grin.

"You can pay me back by never give me that thing you call coffee ever again." Steve decided with a snicker. 

"I can do Better." Bucky murmured with a mischievous smile.

Before Steve could protest or counter the attack, Bucky had hauled him into a tiny cleaning closet. Steve nearly put his foot in a Bucket and a mop fell over when Bucky closed the door. Steve was about to complain about the lack of light and the tiny space, but Bucky's lips were on his own before he had time to even as much as grunt.

Steve gasped when Bucky's body pressed close to his, a knee sliding in between his legs. Bucky quickly used the gasp to get access to the inside of Steve's mouth and Steve was overwhelmed by the delicious flavor that was Bucky. Even the disgusting coffee didn't make the kiss taste bad, it was just a hint of it left anyway and he was too busy enjoying to have Bucky so close to him.

Bucky took a step closer with the leg that wasn't working between his legs to harden Steve's arousal, but in the pitch dark Steve heard the clank of the bucket, felt Bucky loose balance and topple onto him. Steve had no idea where anything where and tried to brace himself against a wall, ended up grabbing at nothing and they both fell to the floor with a loud crash and bang. 

It took only a few seconds until the door flung up and agent Phil, stood in the door along with a brunette woman, both holding guns. The two stared at him and Bucky and for a moment Bucky kept entirely still under him, then he broke out laughing. Throwing his metal arm over his face while cackling like a lunatic and Steve blinked then snorted and joined into the laughing. 

They must look utterly ridiculous. Two bulking super soldiers in a heap on the floor of a cleaning closet with mops and buckets all around them. 

"Steve." Bucky wheezed out between laughter. "You're going to crush me." 

"You pulled me into a cleaning closet!" Steve said loudly between his own laughing. "Move your foot from my... ugh! Bucky that's my pencils!" 

"Why the fuck do you have pencils in your pants pockets!" Bucky wheezed out. 

"Language." He said and pinched Bucky's side. "And they are to stab you with when you're being a jerk." He easily retorted. 

"What the hell is going on here?" A new voice said. 

Both Steve and Bucky looked up from the tangle they were on the floor. The new voice came from a black guy with an eye patch who had taken up place beside the brunette woman and Phil. Phil had a strange expression on his face that reminded Steve about all the times he'd been asked for an autograph. The woman however just looked amused.

"Ah. We took a wrong turn. Steve, that's Maria Hill and that's Fury. Phil is still Phil." Bucky said with a snicker.  

"What? This isn't where we were supposed to be?" Steve asked in mock surprise. 

"Like when you got us lost in that forest forty four?" Bucky asked with a grin. 

"Oh shut it Barnes, we got there eventually."

"Only because we accidentally walked straight into that HYDRA base and Philips found us because of the smoke."

Steve pinched Bucky again before he managed to tangle himself free from Bucky and get up from the floor, stumbling out from the closet and straightened out. Bucky soon followed with a cheeky smile and quickly closed the door behind him as if the whole thing had never happened. Fury didn't look very impressed, but Steve could swear that was amusement in his eye. Phil looked like if he might need a chair to sit down on before fainting.

When it came to first impressions, this was probably one of the most ridiculous ones in Steve's life and he would entirely blame Bucky for it.


	3. The Avengers part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury comes with a mission. Steve and Bucky makes a decision that they need a vacation.

They were sparring at the local gym when Fury found them, close combat, no weapons. Since it was almost midnight they could move without an audience. 

Steve hadn't been able to sleep, he'd been haunted by the image of Bucky falling of that train once again and Bucky had woken up from a nightmare, screaming in agony. Buck did that at times. They'd go to sleep and the next thing Steve knew Bucky would be screaming and clutching for his head as if to stop it from hurting. When Steve would finally manage to wake him up, Bucky wouldn't remember anything other than loosely saying he'd been in pain. 

When Steve had nightmares he usually woke up crying out Bucky's name and the panic wouldn't settle down until Bucky had both arms wrapped around him mumbling quietly in his ear and kiss all over his face. At an entire night, the two soldiers were lucky to scramble up four maybe five hours of sleep. Luckily, for them, that was also enough for the two super soldiers. 

The worst nights they would simply give up the tries to fall asleep at all and just curl up on the couch together under tons of blankets, watching some old movie while eating ice cream. Bucky's favorite movies were still old cartoons, Looney tunes and Disney, one of their usual movies when they were too tired to even think was a four hour disk filled with old black and white mickey mouse episodes. The dognapper was Bucky's favorite. 

Tonight though, movies just hadn't been enough, they had both needed something that could occupy their minds better than mickey mouse.

Bucky had been the one suggesting the gym, Steve had thought 'why not'. What Steve hadn't expected, or rather what he hadn't thought about was that this wasn't the same Bucky that he'd been sparring with in the army. At first he had held back on the punches and Bucky had drop kicked him in the chest, making them both fly like rag dolls. Steve had quickly adapted after that. 

That metal arm of his, Steve had known it was strong, that it worked like a regular arm. But he hadn't expected how strong and fast it would actually be in a fight. Steve had admittedly assumed that the arm would slow Bucky down, at least a little. But instead, Bucky used it and the extra weight into making his blows harder, faster and stronger. Steve briefly wondered where Bucky had learned how to use it, but he didn't ask. Bucky didn't like to talk about the years he couldn't remember and trying to make Bucky remember made the nightmares worse. 

"Trouble sleeping?" Fury's voice said suddenly from their left.

Steve, who hadn't even seen Fury walk into the gym, looked up for a second, and that was one second too much. A loud cry made him regret it, and the next moment Bucky's arms wrapped around his middle, then they were both on the floor and Bucky was pressing both hands to Steve's chest with a shit eating grin because clearly, Bucky had won this round. 

Steve just groaned and let his head fall back to the floor to make the stars stop spinning. "That's cheating." He complained in a whiny voice. He wouldn't usually have done that with people around, but Bucky had a knack in making Steve into a sixteen year old kid again. The whining of course only made Bucky grin wider. 

"Nope, that's me winning. You owe me breakfast Rogers."

"Bucky, I always do breakfast, you would burn down the kitchen." Steve huffed with a laugh. 

Bucky just laughed and got up to his feet, offering Steve his hand to help him up and Steve accepted with a  sly smile. What he hadn't expected was the kiss stolen from him on his way up. Straight at the lips, in front of Fury. Now Steve did know that it was alright, they had even practiced on the whole public displays of affection thing, they had held hands under the table at Starbucks yesterday... but how much he hated to admit it, it still... it made Steve nervous.

"Bucky!" He exclaimed and quickly pushed the brunet away to avoid any more surprise kisses. 

"It's just Fury Steve. He ain't in cahoots with some governmental secret anti fruity society" Bucky said easy as ever.

"Shut it, or I'll give you a knuckle sandwich, you fat head." Steve huffed, of course only make Bucky laugh once again.

"Shouldn't you two be out? Celebrating?" Fury asked as he approached them. "Enjoying the world."

Steve huffed and tried to will the blush off his face. If Fury had searched them up on a nightly trip to the gym, this wasn't going to be a social call and that meant they had to act professional. Something Bucky wasn't helping with at all with that grin on his face telling just exactly how not sorry he was over the kiss in front of the director of SHIELD. 

"You here with a mission for us, sir?" Steve asked to steer the attention elsewhere. 

"I am." Fury confirmed 

"Tryna get me back out in the world?" He asked and crossed his arms over his chest. 

"Actually, that's Barnes' job. Me, just trying to save it." 

Steve looked at the folder Fury held over to him and sat down on the bench as he took it. Bucky leaned in against his back to have a good view of the files. For a moment, Steve was back in forty four, Bucky at his back reading over his shoulder about some mission without anyone questioning why the two of them were touching each other as much as they were. It was one of the few ways they had been able to touch in public without suspicions. 

When he opened the folder it was a bit as if no time had passed at all. The thing they had fought to get their hands at before, the reason Bucky had fallen off a train, the reason he'd been on that plane. The very reason why HYDRA had gotten as big as they had, was now staring them in the face from a SHIELD taken photograph. 

The tesseract, oh he remembered that one. 

"HYDRA's secret weapon." He said, keeping his rage down. 

"You've got to be kidding!" Bucky said sharply, the hand that had rested on Steve's shoulder clenched a little harder.

"Stark fished that thing out of the ocean while looking for you." Fury said and looked at him.

"I'd say I'll kill him but he isn't around to feel threatened." Bucky grunted annoyed. 

Steve just frowned. Why would Stark be foolish enough to fish this up? They all knew that the tesseract was nothing but trouble and belonged in the hands of no one. Steve had thought that with the tesseract dropped into the ocean, it wouldn't pose a threat anymore. Obviously he'd been wrong and now they had... used it and then lost it to another madman?

"He thought what we think. The tesseract could hold the key to an unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

"I assume someone took it?" Bucky said tense. "Or you what? Want us to take it and throw it back into the ocean?" 

"By who'm?" Steve asked stone faced. 

Steve was tired, he was so damn tired at the world and everything it just kept throwing at him. It hadn't even been a month since he crashed that plane into the arctic, it wasn't even two months since he'd seen Bucky fall. Now they were telling him that everything he did, was worth nothing because they had just fished that thing right back and let it get stolen. 

Sure, Steve had got his Bucky back, but a Bucky that suffered from terrifying nightmares, had a metal arm and that Steve could see was also tired. They had been through so much and still the world demanded more of them. He would always keep going, but Bucky... Bucky never signed up for any of this. He was just tossed into it by default because Bucky would follow Steve anywhere. 

"His name is Loki. He.. isn't from around here." Nick said and accepted the file back when Steve handed it to him. "There's a lot we'll have to bring you both up to speed on if you're in. The world's gotten even stranger than you already know."

"These days I doubt anything would surprise me." Steve said with a sigh and stood up again. He had enough, he wanted to go home, with Bucky. 

"Ten bucks says you're wrong." Fury said and Bucky snorted. "There's a debriefing package back at your apartment." 

"Stop breaking into our apartment Nick." Bucky huffed as he grabbed the bag on the floor with their stuff.

Steve just sighed and followed Bucky as the brunet headed for the door. He didn't want to risk loosing Bucky to this thing, not again. He couldn't see Bucky die twice, next time it was more than likely it'd be forever, people only got so many passes. But he still knew they had to do it, if this Loki was anything like Shmidt, then there wouldn't be much left of this world to live in. 

"There anything you could tell us about the tesseract that we ought to know now?" Fury called after them. 

"You should have left  it in the ocean." Steve said as he caught up with Bucky. 

When Bucky looked at him, he looked tired, Bucky looked as tired as Steve felt. Steve was too tired to be nervous. He let his hand slip into Bucky's metal one, he didn't care who saw them right now. They might be dead this time next week for all they knew, they didn't have time for Steve being scared of what the public might say or of being thrown to jail. 

Right now Steve needed to feel Bucky there, and by the look of it, Bucky needed him too. Their combined hands gave them both the strength they needed to keep on moving. Bucky smiled at him and squeezed his hand a little tighter. 

Some days Steve would think about Bucky's metal arm. He'd think about how the arm looked as if it wouldn't be capable of doing things carefully, he'd think that he should feel hesitant to the arm because it wasn't actually Bucky. But he had never seen it that way, the metal was part of Bucky. The scars on his shoulder where the metal meshed with skin, that was Bucky. 

It did have the strength to make a hole in a concrete wall,  _there was several holes in their bedroom witnessing of that,_ but at the same time, Bucky could be so gentle with it. He could hold a phone without breaking it, he could type away on a laptop, play with the xbox controller and he could hold Steve's hand and know exactly how hard he could press. 

Steve smiled slightly and pulled Bucky's hand up to his lips and kissed on the back of the metal plates, just like he'd kiss Bucky's real hand. All he'd ever wanted when he was younger was Bucky holding his hand and kiss him at a street corner, and here he was, able to get that and he was holding back because of irrational fear. One of these days he might wake up and find he had wasted years when he could have got what he wanted.

Bucky chuckled lightly and stopped walking, pulling Steve close and this time Steve didn't hesitate to let his lips be claimed by Bucky. There was that thrilling rush of the prospect of possibly getting caught but also the sense of comfort. Bucky loved him and Steve suddenly had the wish for the entirety of the world to know it. He wanted the world to know that Bucky Barnes was taken, that Bucky was his and that he was Bucky's.

"We don't have to do this Steve." Bucky said gently to him while they still stood leaned together. 

"I know. But we still will."

"Yeah." Bucky said with a little laugh. "This time... no crashing  planes a'right?" Bucky said gently. 

"No train travels." Steve added.

"Deal. Afterwards we go to France for a week, you, me, and all the art you always wanted to see." 

Steve chuckled lightly and nodded. A vacation with Bucky to look at the art from the most amazing artists in history, he'd like that. He'd actually like that a lot. But first, they had to find this Loki and the tesseract. 

Again. 


	4. The avengers part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil is a fanboy and Bucky helps Steve relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW after they get there. :)

"It's just, a huge honor, to meet you. Again! I mean we already met... I drove the car and, I err, watched you, when you slept. I mean when you were unconscious, from the ice..."

Steve glanced up from the screen he was holding in his hand and that he'd been watching for at least the latest hour, asking questions about the other people that had been called in to help. Phil had picked them up from their apartment and brought them to the quinjet they now sat on. Mostly Phil had been answering all of Steve's questions as good as he could, but he hadn't stroke up a conversation on his own. 

Now, Steve kind of understood why, because it was rather awkward. 

He noted the small almost inaudible huff Bucky did and how the brunet's lips curled up in a smile where Bucky laid half napping with his head in Steve's lap. He had been nervous about the position they sat in for about twenty minutes, then he'd just been grateful to have something else to focus on instead of the fact that they were in a plane, flying quickly over open water. His last time didn't end up very good. 

Now however he wasn't entirely certain what he was supposed to answer,  _'I watched you when you slept'_ was kind of creepy. Bucky hadn't been there when he was found in the ice, he'd been away on some mission and had just come back to New York by the time Steve had woken up, it was just dumb luck that Bucky had been there to tackle him to the ground before anyone got hurt. 

Luckily, Bucky saved him this time as well. 

"Just ask him to sign'em Phil. He'll do it for ya, y're our favorite agent." Bucky said and opened one eye to look at Phil with a cheeky smile. 

"Sign what?" Steve asked confused. 

"His trading cards, got a really nice vintage set o'cap cards. Howling commandos too." 

Phil was having just a faint blush to his cheeks but a very proud smile. Steve wondered just how Bucky knew of these cards but Bucky had a way to make people feel at ease around him and get them to talk about mostly anything. Also, Bucky had mentioned that Phil was the guy that had helped him adapt to the new world after he'd woken up in Asia. 

"Near mint. Took me a couple of years to collect them all." Phil said, clearly proud.

"He started when he was just a kid, that's what he mean by a couple'o years." Bucky clarified with a chuckle. 

Steve absently let his free hand stroke through the soft brown tresses of Bucky's long hair. He'd known there was movies, he'd seen some himself. There had been posters and even a comic about Captain America, but trading cards? Like for sports people? That was a bit hard to grasp for him. He silently wondered how life would have been if he hadn't gone into the ice, if he'd be stopped on the street just to sign trading cards. 

"I mean, I don't want to be a trouble." Phil said and Steve cursed himself for thinking too much when he should reply. 

"No, not at all. I'll sign them." He said with a small smile. 

Phil shone up a bit like the sky on fourth of July and Bucky snorted but quickly managed to cover it with a rather realistic cough. It had always cracked Bucky up when people in the army or outside it had come up and asked for autographs from Steve. Not because he though Steve was ridiculous but because  _as Bucky put it,_ they should only know all the things Steve had doodled his name on in their apartment back in Brooklyn. 

Steve gently tugged in Bucky's hair to make him behave. He very well remembered back in the days, two skirts had tried to get more than just his autograph when they'd had a night off in a bar, and he had completely frozen up because Bucky had been having his hand way too high up on Steve's thigh under the table and Steve hadn't been able to make proper words or shaping them into any forms of coherent speaking. 

Bucky had been the one who apologized to them with a ridiculous story before Steve had practically dragged Bucky out of there for some privacy to shut him the hell up. With his lips, in a back alley.

"We have done some modifications to the uniform, I had a little, design input." Phil said with a sheepish smile.

"The uniform? I thought Bucky..." Steve began.

"Nu-uh. Don't try it punk. "Bucky said and sat up with a cheeky smile. "I did it cause ya weren't around, but y're the captain here, I'm just your good looking sidekick." 

Steve immediately missed the weight of Bucky's head against his thighs and to feel Bucky's hair between his fingers but decided not to voice a complaint. It wasn't like it was the first or the last time Bucky had his head in Steve's lap. He could promptly remember quite the few times Bucky'd had his head in Steve's lap back on their ratty couch in Brooklyn, some of those times Steve had needed his inhaler and Buck's head had been all but still. 

But right now wasn't time for that sort of thinking, especially not since he very easily got interested since after the serum. 

It didn't take very much longer after that until they reached their destination and landed on a large vessel in the middle of the ocean. There was a redhead woman meeting them, telling Phil he was needed inside. Steve didn't like how the woman's eyes lingered on Bucky a bit too long, even if it was the usual reaction whenever Bucky didn't put gloves on or when Bucky simply... existed. People had always liked Bucky's good look and cute smile.

But she seemed nice enough and Steve most likely was just a bit touchy when it came to dames looking a bit too long on his Bucky. But the fact that Bucky had been very swooned over by the ladies back in the days always had made Steve very self conscious and worried that one day Bucky would leave him. Even if Bucky always came back and even if Steve knew Bucky loved him, not being able to show it and being a tiny kid with all the health issues known to man... It had made Steve doubt everything some days.

Maybe that's why he was secretly happy when Bucky groaned and grabbed the back of his jacket to pull him back from the edge when the vessel they stood on turned out to be a huge plane. Maybe it also was what pushed Steve into wrapping his arm around Bucky's middle and kiss his cheek to assure he wasn't jumping off the plane. 

Bucky had looked a bit surprised, but clearly not disapproving. Natasha had smiled amused as if she had figured out what Steve was up to and Banner had just seemed concerned about being confined in a tight space in the air. Not that Steve was very fond of the idea either, the last time he'd been on a large plane  ** _really_ ** hadn't ended very well.

When they got inside he let Bucky go, people had probably seen it but he had made his statement and Natasha hadn't done any kind of advances on Bucky. She was friendly and Steve actually kind of liked her, she was a bit like Peggy. Strong, independent and not the kind o'gal who let anyone step on her toes.

However as he stood at the bridge of the ship and look out through the window made him feel really uncomfortable, he could practically hear Peggy talking to him over the radio, one last time. Feel the tilt and the rush of air, know the ice coming closer and closer.

A nudge to his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts and the feeling of a metal finger wrapping around his pinky grounded him once again. The look in Bucky's eyes told Steve that Bucky knew, he didn't need to pretend to be strong for Bucky... but everyone else... No one would feel good about seeing Captain America break down over something as small as a flight.

When Bucky tugged him away he followed. No one stopped them, no one argued, Steve just kept his eyes to the floor and his head slightly down. Sometimes he missed being that small kid that didn't pull any attention no matter what he did. Tiny Steve had been able to practically be invisible, if he felt like the world came crashing down, no one had spared him a second look.

Like this though, this hulking bulk of muscles and height... well, privacy was hard to get.

For quite some time Bucky just lead him around different turns and paths, he seemed to have a goal but they never seemed to reach it. When Steve had seen the same door three times he finally realized Bucky was doing his thing, the thing he used to do in Brooklyn. Whenever Steve had been down, feeling like he was worthless, Bucky grabbed him for a walk, pretended to get lost in Brooklyn and would keep leading them in circles until Steve lead the way.

It was ridiculous of course. Steve wasn't a kid... but it made him smile because it was so silly. Even if they weren't really lost, it was Bucky's way of showing that Steve was important because Steve lead them. Wherever Steve would go, Bucky would follow and in the end, they'd end up where they were meant to be. 

"Buck... Where are we going." He asked after a while, following their old game. 

"Oh, I have no idea, I got us lost after the third turn." Bucky said with an innocent smile. 

Steve snorted amused and shook his head before he walked up beside Bucky instead of walking just behind the other, to navigate them back to the bridge. It was a silly thing, but it really was an excellent distraction that forced Steve out of his own head for a while. He still held two of Bucky's metal fingers as he lead the way, passing them through a lab, passing by a big glass container, passed infirmary rooms and a bunch of other rooms and halls that Steve wasn't sure what they were all for. 

As they began to get back on track, Bucky pulled him into a small room that must be some kind of rest room since there was a chair and a cot in it. But Steve wasn't given much time to reflect until Bucky had locked the door and then pushed him up against the wall and Steve found his personal space very much invaded by a handsome brunet. 

Steve startled out a laugh as Bucky dove in and kissed him over his neck and how skillfully Bucky liberated him from his leather jacket. This probably wasn't either time nor space to get Bucky started, but he didn't have it in himself to stop the other man. Bucky's kisses and his touch was something Steve had desperately missed. 

They hadn't... fondued... since the war. They had cuddled, slept in the same bed all tangled up and kissed, but it hadn't gotten more. Steve had started to worry that maybe Bucky didn't want him like that anymore, that maybe Steve was just comfortably familiar. But those fears was thrown out the window now that Bucky was attacking his shoulder, sucking the skin that would be hidden under his shirt while both metal hand and his real hand was working on the buttons. 

"Couldn't stop thinking'bout this Stevie." Bucky murmured against his skin. Steve was sure Bucky'd be able to hear how hard and quick his heart beat in his chest. "Could feel ya y'know, at the way here." 

Steve gasped as Bucky grabbed him through his khakis and palmed his stiff Johnson. He was already rock hard and needy for Bucky, that serum really did make him turned on by practically anything Bucky did. Back in the army, he might have been a bit too rough on Bucky as it had been hard to adjust his super strength when his mind had been so engulfed in what they'd been doing. But now, Bucky was like him, he wouldn't have to worry about holding anything back. 

"Shit, I really wanna taste ya Stevie, y'gonna lemme?" Bucky breathed against his lips before they were kissing desperately. 

"Yes, Buck, please yes." He gasped against Bucky's mouth. 

He could hear it himself that those words came out a lot more pathetic than he'd hoped. But to be quite honest, he'd needed this for quite some time now and Bucky palming him through the rough fabric of his pants and underwear, didn't help to keep his cool at all. The same thing applied for the way Bucky was kissing him or how his metal hand was circling his right nipple. 

He moaned loudly and Bucky slipped fluently down on his knees, grasping Steve's hips tightly before leaning in and mouthing over the fabric. Steve gasped and smacked his head back against the wall and had to focus hard not to come right then and there. Sure him and Bucky had several times in the past where Steve had popped like a cork from a bottle by just Bucky's touch and kisses alone, but today would not be one of those times. 

He tangled his hand into Bucky's hair, desperate for some sort of hold that would ground him. He didn't pull Bucky's soft hair, he just wrapped it around his fingers and anchored himself while Bucky was teasing him through his pants. Bucky better hurry up or Steve probably would come, liking it or not. 

"Smell's so good Stevie." Bucky purred as he unbuckled Steve's belt. "Y'still tasting's good as I remember?" 

"Buck... please." Steve whined. 

He'd never understand how Bucky could continue to be coherent while doing things like this, himself turned into a panting, blabbering idiot who barely knew up from down. He'd go from a guy that knew thousands of words to a guy that knew tops twenty of them, while Bucky would just continue to be smooth. Or well, Steve thought it was smooth, he didn't know if other people thought it was smooth or not, and he didn't really care to find out. 

Bucky though decided to be merciful with him and in a whoop, Steve's pants fell to the floor and in the next moment Bucky's hot tongue was making a long slick line of saliva up his shaft. Bucky's right hand wrapping his fingers around the base, giving a firm stroke. All Steve could do was moan, grasp Bucky's hair a little tighter and let his head fall back against the wall behind him. 

When Bucky began twirling around his tongue, teasing his foreskin and wrapping his lips around the tip, Steve couldn't help buckling his hips forwards. He was so needy for more and watching Bucky's lips stretch out around him while his fingers stroke firmly back and forth, was almost enough to make him pop. Would have been enough if he wasn't so determined to pull this out as long as he could.

Bucky however tightened the metal hand on his hips, keeping him steady and slowly began swallowing down every inch of Steve's Johnson. He'd always been impressed and a bit terrified over how Bucky had been able to do that. Well, no, terrified had come after the Serum and Steve had grown considerately everywhere and Bucky still would be able to swallow him down all the way.

Which incidentally was exactly what was happening now and Steve gasped as he felt Bucky's throat flex around him and he clutched his other hand into Bucky's hair along with the first. 

He couldn't help the small roll of his hips as his body wanted nothing but to get closer into that heat. Bucky gagged and pulled back a fraction, changed his breathing pattern then clenched both hands to Steve's hips and pushed his bare ass to the cold wall behind him, to keep Steve from moving.

When Bucky had settled a rhythm he was comfortable with, his right hand slipped down and began teasing Steve's balls. A wild thought hit him, he wanted to know what the metal hand would feel like in the same way. Suddenly, he craved it. 

"Buck.. ah, Buck... please" He gasped trying to remember how to... well, word. "Metal." He managed to whine as he looked down at Bucky with hopefullu his begging puppy look. 

Bucky looked up at him from under his long black lashes and for a moment he looked confused and stopped moving his head. Then he got that amused grin he got every time Steve suggested a new idea he liked. _If you could call it a grin when having your lips stretched around someone's hard on._ Bucky picked up the pace and shifted hands so the real one was controlling Steve's movements and the metal one touched against his balls. 

Steve groaned loudly about the cool of the metal and tightened his fingers a bit further in Bucky's hair while Bucky was doing things with his tongue that Steve had so many times tried to copy but never really got the hang of. He nearly whined again when Bucky let his hip go but the whine turned into a moan when he saw it slip down in Bucky's own jeans, pulling Bucky's own length out to pump it in the same speed as he moved his head. 

Yeah, Steve was definitely at the edge now. Only raw stubbornness and iron will was keeping him from crossing the edge. His heart was beating so fast he was surprised it was still in his chest. His panting was enough to have made himself concerned he might be having an asthma attack and his moans was only matched by the soft content sounds Bucky was making around his shaft. 

"Buck... gonna come." He choked out, tugging slightly in Bucky's hair to warn him off. 

Bucky grunted, the sound pulsing through Steve's dick, making him buckle his hips forwards again. This time Bucky didn't gag, just made a happy little hum and then another, and another. Forcing Steve closer and closer to the sweet edge of bliss. But what really made him explode was when a metal finger slyly traced up his crack and the tip teasingly threatened to breach the ring of muscles. 

It made him pretty much explode with a loud cry of Bucky's name, pouring his cum down Bucky's throat while Bucky swallowed around him hungrily. Steve's head was buzzing of white noise and the world went white, he was only vaguely aware what happened around him other than the fact that Bucky was there taking care of him. 

When he came back too it, he found that he was sitting slouched against Bucky, like a puddle in his lap on the floor. Leaning pretty much all his weight against a Bucky. A Bucky that felt as puddly as himself. He hummed when he felt small lazy kisses against his shoulder where his boyfriend's head was resting. The only thing keeping them both from falling over on the floor was each other. 

"Next time." Steve mumbled content when he finally got his voice back. "I get to taste you." 

"Mhmm sounds good." Bucky slurred against his shoulder. "I'll cover myself in whip cream'n chocolate sauce." 

Steve laughed tiredly and wrapped his arms around Bucky for a few seconds before they simply slid down to hang limp to his sides. Christ, this was exactly how it's been back in the war, a big mission coming up and the two of them spent a good alone time before to let out tensions. Steve wasn't sure if it was good or not, but it worked for them. He could focus more if he had spent alone time with Bucky. 

"You're gonna kill me, but I just spotted a camera." Bucky mumbled against his neck. 

"Think they'll send us a copy?" Steve asked. 

Bucky snickered and Steve grinned. He'd probably freak out about the camera later on, but right now he just couldn't make himself care. He was too damn comfortable and content for the camera to be a problem. Besides, who would watch a camera for a random empty resting room? 


	5. The Avengers part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is found in Germany. Bucky don't like heights and Steve is amused to find his boyfriend sassing Stark.

As it turned out, by the looks they got when they returned to the bridge from their little visit in the restroom, at least three agents watched cameras over empty resting rooms. Steve felt like he'd maybe melt through the floor by embarrassment or take this whole thing and crash them all into the ocean for another seventy years worth of sleeping. 

Luckily for Steve, the face recognition program or whatever they called it, had given a seventy nine percent hit on Loki somewhere in Germany. Which meant himself, Bucky and Natasha was sent off in a quinjet, alone, and if Natasha knew what they'd been up to. She hadn't said a word about it or given them any hints she knew.

When they arrived to the town square in Germany, it was full of people kneeling as Loki was making some ground sounding speech. When Steve looked to his right, Bucky was already gone, somehow just having melted away with his rifle to god knows where. Steve had to admit he was impressed how a guy dressed in a stealthier version of a Captain America suit, with a metal arm and a dangerous looking rifle, could just disappear as if he'd never even arrived.

Steve only heard a couple of seconds of Loki's speech before the cape dressed man had managed to rub him all the wrong ways. It struck him that Germany either had a damn bad luck when it came to power-mad people who wanted to take over the world, or there was some kind of crazy laying over the country.

The scepter Loki was carrying, reminded Steve about a HYDRA weapon and Steve knew damn well what those were capable of.

He tried to be as sneaky as Bucky, moving quickly without drawing attention. Saw an old man stand up, going against Loki even though he had no chance of surviving that encounter and he felt the need to be faster. It was like being the little guy again, it always felt like being the little guy when he just felt he wouldn't be able to make it, when he felt he wasn't fast or strong enough.  

"Then look to your elders people. Let him be an example." Loki said, the soft sound he remembered from powering up a HYDRA weapon. 

Not today! The world was not having a weapon like that returning this day. No one was going to die by a weapon like that ever again, even if Steve himself would have to throw himself in front of it. Bucky would most likely kill him if they got out of here, but Steve couldn't help it, it needed to be done and it was the right thing to do. 

He jumped, took cover behind his shield and let the blast bounce back towards the one who fired it in the first place. It was always risky, he could accidentally angle it a bit too much to one direction and the blast would hit someone innocent. He only had a couple of micro seconds to decide how to angle the shield against these sort of weapons, luckily for him, he had gotten a lot of practice back in the army. 

The shot, as he'd expected  _or rather hoped,_ hit Loki square in the chest, hitting him down on the ground on all four. The horned helmet really made Steve think about a bull, but he didn't have time to let his minds linger on things like that. Instead he made a quick scan around, trying to get visual on a glint of metal somewhere, but Bucky was still nowhere to be seen.

He slowly stood up, holding the shield at the ready, just in case this khaki wacky decided to pull some other crazy out of his pockets. A guy dressed in a cape had trouble in the head even back in his days. At least something hadn't changed.

"You know last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else. We ended up disagreeing." 

Not that Steve had ever actually seen Hitler stand above anyone else when he was in Germany. But he'd seen the movies of it in war propaganda clips. In fact, Steve hadn't met Hitler at all and Shmidth, well, he wasn't entirely certain Shmidth even counted as a Nazi. But this guy didn't need to know about that. He just needed to stand down so no civilian got hurt. 

But that unfortunately wasn't on this guys agenda. 

"The soldier." The man said with a grin as he leaned to his scepter to stand back up on his feet while he spoke. "The man out of time."

"I'm not the one out of time." On cue, the quinjet was heard hover behind him and Natasha's voice was heard over the speakers. 

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

The next steps happened so fast that a person not used with war or fighting would have lost trace.

Loki fired off another blast with his scepter towards the quinjet. Natasha was luckily a good pilot and maneuvered away from the blast. Steve threw his shield against Loki, not that it did much good, just bounced back without as much as denting Loki's attire. Steve had to back a step not to get that scepter in his head and tried to focus on figuring Loki's fighting pattern out. 

It wasn't the easiest job, especially not when he was trying to get his own punches in while Loki kept coming with that scepter of his. A hard hit to his chest sent him flying and smacking straight into something hard behind him. It didn't phase him much anymore, Steve was used to getting smacked into things ever since he was just a kid in Brooklyn. 

He tried throwing his shield again, this time meant as a distraction while he threw himself back in. He managed to land a punch, though, it didn't seem to do much and he had to dodge another blow. It was a bit like fighting Shmidth again only, a less... disturbing face. This guy was fast and damn strong, gave Steve a run for his money to be sure and soon again he was thrown back. 

The butt of the scepter landed against his helmet as he pushed to get up, making sure he kept down. He took a deep breath, remaining on his four on the ground to catch his breath when he was given a second before he could start back up. At least the people had managed to run away and he thankfully saw no bodies. 

"Kneel." Loki demanded.

Not that Steve would kneel to anyone, but before he had time to do anything there was a loud rage cry that he knew came from Bucky. In the next moment something Black, white, red, blue and the shine of metal barreled into Loki. It sent them both flying with Bucky landing on top of the other with a loud crack that Steve hoped came from the pavement or from Loki and not Bucky.

Bucky really needed to stop doing that charge before he hurt himself. 

But Bucky didn't seem hurt, instead he was straddling Loki, the metal arm beating down at Loki's face while Bucky was literary screaming  _"Don't. touch. my. boyfriend."_ And punctuated each word with a new blow. If Loki hadn't been... what the hell he was, his face most likely wouldn't be a face anymore. But as it was now, Loki wasn't really human and Steve saw Loki's hand edge closer and finally grasp the scepter. 

"Buck!" Steve shouted and threw his shield. 

Bucky caught it and the next moment blue light erupted between them and Bucky flew like a glove across the air and landed with a loud groan. Steve assumed Bucky was fine, he had to assume that for the sake of his own sanity, and charged Loki once more.

The shield was thrown back to him just in time to block a hit, unfortunately the hit also tossed him back and crashed him into Bucky who had just got back up on his feet. Bucky groaned under him as they tumbled over. The next moment very loud music blared out over them, if that could count as music... Steve somehow doubted it. But the flying suit that came with it was a nice sight he suppose. At least when it made Loki fly back and smack against some stairs. 

Steve pushed himself off Bucky then helped the other back up on his feet and they both moved over to where Stark stood, weapons aimed and ready to fire at Loki. Bucky had grabbed his rifle from somewhere Steve really hadn't seen it and aimed it at Loki as well. Steve just moved up between them holding his shield tightly. 

"Make a move reindeer games." Geez, that guy even sounded a bit like Howard.

"Really that's the best'ya got stark?" Bucky asked amused. "Reindeer games and loud music?"

"Uhm, excuse me, who just saved who'm here? Forgive me if my entrance wasn't a work of art, even if it very damn near was." Stark said offended.

"Jus'sayin', y'could'a gone with golden ages since ya brought the music'n he' covered in gold." Bucky replied cheeky.

"That's..." Tony cursed under his breath. "Son of a bitch." 

"Y'wanna fly off'n do it again?" Bucky asked with the same tease, the grin turning wider.

Steve had to bite his lip not to laugh. He remembered Bucky's and Howard's trying to outsmart each other back in the army. They had liked each other sure, Howard had always hit Bucky up with the best weapons and Bucky had tried out a bunch of Stark's more risky inventions. But there had always been teasing and messing with each other. 

Apparently seventy years later, Bucky still wasn't done messing with the stark family. 

☆★☆★☆

Bucky didn't like this guy. Loki, or whatever they called him. Not just because the guy had just tossed him and Steve around like rag dolls, but there was something wrong about this all. He didn't blink enough. Taking someone in who didn't want to be taken in, that person would blink a lot more than a person who wanted to be where they'd been taken. They could always play it cool, but their bodies would give it up. 

But this guy, just sat there, he wanted to be there or he was really damn good at acting. 

Ever since they got back on the quinjet, Bucky had been staring Loki in the eyes. Sitting on the opposite side, leaned to his rifle and just stared. He'd ignored most of the conversation around him and just focus on trying to understand why Loki wanted to be taken in, wondering why he hadn't fought harder even if he sure as hell could have. 

He was also a bit spooked by the way Loki was staring at him back. It felt like the other guy was able to dig around in Bucky's head, reading his minds and to be honest, with a guy like this, he wouldn't dismiss it as a possibility.

"Y'gonna tell me what number I'm thinking of?" He asked after a while and arched a brow.

"Is that what you are longing for sergeant Barnes?" 

Bucky felt his fingers itch, maybe it was the way he said sergeant Barnes, or simply because of his voice. But Bucky didn't like it. In fact he had the urge to put his fingers in his ears and sing lalala like a kid who didn't want to hear that it was time for bed. Bucky definitely didn't like this guy.

"I don't like him." Bucky said aloud instead and swiftly glanced over to Steve.

"Me neither." Steve replied with a frown. "I don't remember it ever being this easy. This guy packs a wallop." 

"Still, you are pretty spry. For an older fellow." Bucky frowned looking towards Stark who was speaking. "What's your thing? Pilates?"

"What?" Steve asked confused.

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things, doing time as a capcicle."

"Back the fuck off Stark." Bucky growled warning. 

He didn't like when people messed with Steve. Steve had had enough trouble with bullies as a kid and Bucky would never hesitate clocking someone over the head for messing with his Stevie. Billionaire or not, Howard's son or not. Bucky would break his nose if he messed with Steve in the bad ways. That left arm of his packed a pretty swing and he knew it. 

Stark was about to answer him, probably something snarky, but was interrupted by the sky cracking open by a long lightning. Suddenly there was thunder and lightning all around them. The sky had been mostly clear when they left and he doubted Natasha would have drove them through a thunderstorm for the fun of it. Planes weren't the safest place when there was a storm crackling away. 

But what surprised Bucky was that the guy, Loki... he finally blinked. Bucky saw the small lowering of shoulders, the slightly nervousness that slipped into the face that had just been smirking at him. Bucky reacted by grabbing his rifle just a little tighter, his fingers a little closer to the trigger. This guy was good, most likely better than he'd shown back in Germany and if he got nervous... Well, that was cause enough for everyone to start getting nervous. 

"Where is this coming from?" He heard Natasha ask mostly to herself.

"What? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked Loki. It was meant as a tease, but Bucky could hear Steve had drawn the same conclusion as himself, something was happening and it might be above their pay grades. 

"I am not overly fond of what follows." Loki said cryptically, looking up as if he waited for someone to spring through the roof with a gun.

Bucky frowned and slowly stood up, edging closer to Steve. The sudden thud above their head told them that something had most definitely just landed on their roof even if they were already mid air. Bucky fell down to a crouch, making sure he stood in a stable position and held the rifle entirely still with his left arm as a support. Aiming it between the exit and Loki ready to move it to whatever direction needed. 

The next couple of moments went fast. Stark decided that opening the door would be a good idea,  _Bucky silently vowed never to go with that idiot on a submarine._ A blond man wearing a red cape landed, ( _what was up with everyone and capes today?)_  without any plane or any sort of means to help him fly, just in front of Stark. Something hard smacked against Stark's suit with a loud  **clang** making Stark fly back. Unfortunately Stark flew straight into both Steve and Bucky, upsetting Bucky's balance and threw Steve to the floor. 

Bucky fired away three shots, each and everyone hitting the mark but none of them seemed to inflict any sort of injury. The bullets just slipped off as if Bucky had shot at Steve's shield. The blond grabbed Loki and the next moment they were both gone, having thrown themselves out of the quinjet and Bucky could swear the blond flew them away. 

If he'd thought that maybe it'd be above his pay grade... it had been a fucking understatement. 

Bucky groaned loudly when Tony decided to simply jump out of the plane after the other two without any strategy or plan or anything. He just flew away as well. What happened to good old honest fights that happened on the ground? 

Not that he was given any time whatsoever to contemplate and complain about that before Steve had began strapping himself into a parachute. Bucky just sighed and grabbed one for himself while shaking his head and cursing profoundly. Natasha warned them not to go but of course Steve wouldn't listen and where Steve went, Bucky went. That's how this worked.  

"You owe me big time Rogers, I hate jumping off heights." He groused as he made sure one more time everything was secured.

"Y'don't have to come Buck." Steve said honest and clasped his shoulder. 

"Fuck off, Punk." He grunted and pushed Steve's hand off. 

"Jerk." Steve said with a grin.

Bucky huffed and tugged Steve close to his body and pressed a hard  kiss against the blond's lips. If they would die by jumping off a fucking plane, following two cape wearing khaki wackeys and a guy voluntarily  dressed in a red and gold metal suit, Bucky at least was going to have a fucking good kiss first. 

Steve didn't push him away or complain that they weren't alone, just melted into the kiss until Bucky pulled back. When they parted Bucky shook his head before walking to the edge of the quinjet. Suppressing any memory he had of seeing Steve get smaller and smaller while he fell against certain death. This wouldn't be the same. This wasn't a train and he wasn't falling, he was jumping.

He saluted Steve teasingly. "Captain." He said before jumping. For a moment he just focused on getting himself into the right position, then he shouted WOOHOO in honor of his old pals in the commandos. He actually grinned when he heard Steve match the war cry from somewhere on his right.  

This was nothing like falling off the train, this was jumping and that was different.


	6. The Avengers part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting at the carrier and Bucky loves to distract Steve when he's supposed to listen.

There had been another fight once back on the ground. Or rather, Tony had been in another fight. This time with a blond guy wearing a red cape that walked around with a big hammer he liked to hit people with. When Steve and Bucky had joined them, they had more broken the fight up than actually fought. Granted that they had leveled quite the big part of the forest around them in doing so.

The blond man,  _a guy that had later introduced himself as Thor as in the god of thunder,_ had bashed his hammer down against Steve's shield. Steve had pulled Bucky close to hide behind it and they both had kept the shield straight against the bash. There had been something that Steve could only explain as an explosion and the trees of the forest had practically just cracked like sticks in a wide circle around them. 

But they had been fine after that, Thor was also there to stop Loki and whatever he was up.

Natasha had taken them all back to the carrier and now they were all sitting by the table on main deck, watching through their screens projected at the table as Fury spoke to Loki. Steve mostly listened instead of watching, just half glancing at the screen and the other half, glancing at Bucky. Bucky who was watching every little movement on the screen as if he was trying to read something the rest of them couldn't see in the picture. 

Bucky really hadn't liked Loki.

It wasn't like how Bucky really didn't like most of the strike team, this time Bucky had a good reason... but there was still something that told Steve that Bucky saw something the rest of them were missing. He had dismissed it as Bucky being tense since the tesseract was involved and had bad memories associated with it as himself. But ever since they started this mission, there was something to Bucky that wasn't quite  _Bucky,_ it was something more. Something dark and secret.

"He really grows at you don't he?" Banner said, pulling Steve out of his thoughts as the screens flickered out. 

"Loki's gonna drag this out." Steve said. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

Since Thor was Loki's brother _if Steve had understood it correctly,_ he clearly was the one with most insight on the other man.

These people might not be his commandos or his usual team. But he still was Captain America and if he'd learned something with that title it was that people always would assume he had a plan and would lead them to victory. That's what the name had turn people to expect of him. Ever since that day they had marched back into the camp with the 107th mostly intact. 

It was tiresome and it also meant he never got to just throw in the towel and break down over the bad things that was happening all around him. When Bucky had died, he had just been given a night to grieve, coming back from the ice, he hadn't even been given a proper month before he was tossed back into the fray. Everyone always saw him as the icon, never as the guy who hadn't even reached his thirties.

Everyone except for Bucky. 

Bucky had already seen him at his weakest. A scrawny kid coughing his lungs out while confined to his bed, still Bucky had been by his side. Bleeding in a back alley, half beaten to death. Bucky had taken him home and got him cleaned up more times than Steve could count. When Steve had been nothing, Bucky had still loved him unconditionally. When Steve became Captain America, Bucky had still seen him as Steven Rogers. When he woke up with nightmares, Bucky was right by his side and said it was okay.

"He's got an army, called the chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people to claim the earth. In return I suspect for the Tesseract." Thor said gravely.

"Steve? Remember that time when ya was fourteen and I said space aliens was the killer driller?" Bucky huffed and frowned. "I take it back."

"An army. From outer space." Steve said slowly. 

Gee, throw a Nazi at him anytime and he'd give'em a knuckle sandwich but aliens? From outer space... he just didn't know how much more of this new world he could take before it started to seriously mess with his head. He really didn't need all this to make his nightmares worse, nor did Bucky. They already had trouble to sleep at night and space aliens didn't sound like they'd solve that problem.

"So he's building another portal, that's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Banner said thoughtfully.

"Selvig?" Clearly a person of interest for Thor by the sound of it. 

But Steve lost what Thor replied or what anyone said to be quite honest because metal fingers slowly crept up over his thigh towards his private corner. Steve really hoped that no one would notice and opted on pushing Bucky's hand away. But doing that would draw attention and if people looked at him they'd notice how his ears and cheeks must be tomato color if the heat was anything to go on. 

He did give Bucky a sharp glare but Bucky, the sly dog, just ignored him and looked as if he was having a way too boring border meeting and nothing was happening under the table. But it sure as hell was. Those metal finger were slyly stroking in over Steve's inner thigh and Steve had to reroute all his focus on not letting his breath go ragged or to moan out loud. 

When Bucky brushed over Steve's way too interested Johnson the brunet looked at him and a lazy wolfish grin broke out over his lips. It took all of Steve's willpower not to pounce the other. He tried really hard to hear what the others were saying but a white noise had muffled the entire room and Steve just solemnly hoped he wouldn't pop in his pants. He was still wearing his outfit and it'd look bad with stains. 

This was all terribly public and Steve knew that. Both crew of the ship and the little ragtag team of people that was planning to stop Loki was all around the room and he was just praying to god that no one was watching this, watching him because they'd probably figure it out without a second glance. The prospect of getting caught doing something this sinful should put Steve off, make him slack...

But it didn't.

Instead the thought made his blood rush harder, heart pump faster and his breath trying desperately to increase it's speed. They could get busted and Steve loved it. They were both going to hell, he was fairly sure of that, but if he went with Bucky and this was what they'd get to do, well, he didn't mind it too much. 

Steve was jerked out of his fantasies of what wicked things Bucky could do with his hand though, by Tony _(huh, when had he joined them?)_  practically shouting out "That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Now Steve had no idea what Galaga was and was trying to look around for anyone playing anything.

"Dammit stark! I wanted to see how high of a score he could get! He's died three times this one was his best one!" Bucky groaned loudly. 

Apparently Bucky had still been able to keep up with what happened around them, but again, Bucky hadn't been the one with a hand between his legs. Steve took a deep breath, trying to calm down his... well,  _everything_ that Bucky had tuned up to a hundred. 

"Oh yeah? You have time to keep up with the rest of us while ogling the Capcicle?" Tony sassed.

"Y've got time to sass me when ya're in the middle o'ya gobbledygook?" Bucky asked with a grin. "Or are ya just jealous he ain't active duty for ya?"

"Gee fella's, y'gonna fight over me like I'm the last pack o' cigarettes?" Steve asked cheeky. 

"Cheeky." Bucky snorted. "Got that from Jimmy?"

"Gabriel actually." 

"Do they actually talk like that?" Tony asked and stared at them. "I can't tell if they're having me on or not." 

Bucky snorted amused and Steve grinned. Okay so maybe he was having a bit too much fun teasing Stark like this, but honestly, that's what him and Bucky had always been up to. They teased and they messed with people and they made each other laugh, it was home and it was grounding. They were standing at the edge of a war with aliens from outer space, but teasing and joking with Bucky made Steve calm. 

"It's how they talked back then Stark." Natasha pointed out.

Tony just audible rolled his eyes before he turned his attention back to more important things, like finding the Tesseract and figuring out what Loki was planning to do. Also, Steve suspected, to show off. He just wasn't sure who he was showing off for since everyone in the room already knew Tony was a genius. Steve figured with a dad like Howard, it wasn't a surprise. 

Banner said something about heavy ion fusion and things like that and Tony shone up like a Christmas tree. Steve hadn't understood even a little and by the looks of it, neither had Bucky, so at least Steve wasn't alone about not understanding what was being said.  

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Tony exclaimed.

"Is that what just happened?" Steve couldn't help himself to ask. 

"Nah, that was Howard sayin' some fancy crap before handing me a new launcher rifle. Tryna be all grandstand before we accidentally blew up the mess hall." Bucky said slowly.

"That was you two?" Steve asked in disbelief. 

He remembered that time, it had been a terrible week of everyone's lives. The mess hall had been blown up, luckily without anyone in it but everyone had though the base had been compromised by the Nazi and they had all spent six days, sleeping in the forest in the rain. It had really been a horror and everyone had been in a terrible mood, happy to be alive, but in pissy moods.

Well, come to think of it, Bucky and Stark had been acting weirdly giddy for two people who hated being out in the rain. In fact, they being the reason behind that explosion actually explained a lot. Steve quietly wondered if anyone had ever figured Stark out after the war or if he'd ever passed the knowledge on like a fun drinking story.

"Dr Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might help him... and also ask you not to give any weapons to Barnes that might blow this place up." Fury said as he walked into the bridge, Steve briefly wondered what he'd missed while Bruce and Tony had been talking but let it go.

"Hey! Once. And the blame was on Stark, my aim is incredible." Bucky said with a huff and a pout.

"I would start with that stick of his, It works a lot like a HYDRA weapon."  Steve suggested. 

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know to his personal flying monkeys." Fury said with a frown.

"monkeys... I do not understand." Thor said in confusion. 

"I do!" Steve quickly said. He had seen that movie at the cinema with Bucky. "I understood that reference."

Tony rolled his eyes and Bucky just smiled fondly at him. Okay so maybe it was a bit silly that he got so excited by that and... most likely everyone around this table except for Thor knew about that movie too... but hey. Finally he wasn't the only guy in the room who didn't get the references. Bucky had been around for a bit longer, he had already caught up on a lot of movies that Steve hadn't. Not yet anyway. 

"Yeah I know cookie." Bucky said and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Jus' give it some time an' we'll movie marathon bunch o movies so ya know the most important ones." He promised.

Steve just knew he had turned all kinds of red by the kiss, but he decided not to push Bucky away this time. They were going public with this thing, a bit slow and anxiously, but they were getting there. These people were like a soft start and there wouldn't be any pictures in the papers about Captain America making out with the other Captain America that was Bucky.

The papers, Steve had found, were really good at getting pictures of him even if he just went down the street with Bucky for a coffee and Steve really wasn't ready to come out on that scale just yet. He was barely ready to come out in this company even if he was fairly sure everyone here already knew. But he had promised himself he'd get there. 

Natasha gave a small smile over Bucky's little display before she simply pushed herself up and headed off. Tony rolled his eyes but then him and Bruce went away as well, presumably to get started in the lab. Soon Bucky and Steve were the only ones still at the table and no one payed them much attention and Steve let his hand slip into Bucky's. 

"After France?" Steve asked with a small smile.

"Yeah. After France, just you, me an the apartment full'o movies." Bucky assured.

"Love you Buck."

"Love you too Stevie... wanna go to a corner an' be rationed?" 

Steve grinned, giving a tiny nod and the two soldiers quickly left the room to find a private spot to kiss like school boys behind the gym. 


	7. The Avengers part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky get's an offer and Tony nearly get punched in the face.

Bucky was comfortably seated on top of one of the lab benches, _(anything that had been there before him had been firmly scooted aside)_  while watching as Stark and Banner were trying to find the Cube by using Loki's glow stick of doom. Steve wasn't around, Phil had managed to ambush them and Steve had gone off to sign Phil's collection. Bucky who knew it was mean to laugh over people wanting Stevie's autograph had decided to do some exploring instead. 

He had ended in the lab because that was the best place to get updates on how they were doing without having to hear it from a middle hand. Not that he had a clue about what Stark and Banner were actually up to while they were working on their screens and using their weird assed words for things Bucky was fairly certain didn't even exist. But hey, who was he to judge, he liked science, he just didn't have a head for it. 

Sure ask him to fix a car and he'd be able to do that anytime. Or at least he had been back in the thirties when he'd worked at that garage since the day he jumped out of school. These modern day cars most likely wouldn't make much sense to him at all, at least not the part where they were all hooked to computers and GPS systems.

"You know, that arm of yours, I could improve it." Tony finally said after Bucky caught him staring at it one time too many. "By the looks of it, it's heavy right? I could fix that. And being frail? I could fix that too, make a couple of calls and we'll have it made in the same material as Cap's shield." 

"Why don't ya use it for ya suits?" Bucky asked arching a brow. If Tony could get his hands on vibranium, why waste it on him? 

"Right? Yes, well here's the thing is, the Wakandans don't want the most precious metal on earth to be used as a weapon." Tony said, as if he had just explained everything by those short words. But Bucky didn't really follow.

"But an arm would be recovery for a soldier who lost a limb for the country and a friend..." Bruce said slowly as he looked up from his work. "And Barnes is, or at least was Captain America for about six months."

"Exactly! And there is already the shield so they sort of, indirectly support captain America." Tony said excitedly. "I don't think they would mind helping the second captain out a little." 

Bucky sighed and rolled his eyes, Tony was being far too excited for this just to be helping Bucky. More likely Tony had wanted to play with Vibranium for a longer time but not been able to get his hands on it and Bucky just happened to be that perfect chance. Bucky would lie if he said he wasn't interested though, Steve's shield was light, anything shot at it just fell off it, and it didn't break. 

He had been having trouble with some of the plates lately, ever since he got hit by a larger gun. Shield had done what they could to fix him up but the fact still was that sometimes some of the plates jammed in places. A vibranium arm wouldn't have that problem, it'd be indestructible and Bucky wouldn't have to concern himself about it possibly breaking.

But he also knew how to play hard to catch, he'd prefer to have Tony on his toes rather than just submit by throwing himself on the floor for the guy. If Tony worked like Howard, then Tony would be dying to impress if he thought his audience wasn't easily impressed.

"So, you wanna play with the material and I accidentally happen to be your chance." Bucky stated and arched a brow. "How do I know ya don' go mucking it up?"

"That's about it, yup." Tony said and then frowned. "Hey, I don't mess things up. That piece of junk you call arm, it's ancient. This arm would be a hundred times better."

Bucky wasn't fond of people touching his arm, especially not scientists or doctors. He didn't know why but they gave him the shivers, made him snappy and made him feel uncomfortable for hours after they stopped touching. But if Steve was there for a distraction it shouldn't really be a problem, Steve was really good at distracting him. 

"Sure, but I wanna see everythin' first. No built in guns or weapons an' Steve will be there." 

"How about knives?" Tony suggested.

"No. It's an arm, not a weapon." He said and shook his head. He already was self conscious about it as it was. "I already sleep with a gun under my pillow, don't need more weapons to bed." 

"Spoil sport. But alright, come by the stark tower after all this is done and we'll have a look."

Bucky just nodded in reply, wondering if maybe he'd done a mistake in accepting this without talking to Steve about it first. He did remember how Howard got when he got a bit carried away over things, stuff got a bit too dangerous and blew up. When it came to Bucky's arm, he'd prefer it if it didn't blow up. He wasn't sure how many passes a guy could get before he was forced to throw in the towel. 

At the same time, it did sound nice not having to swagger from the extreme weight that currently was the chunk of metal at his left side. He was used to the chronic pain in his shoulder and entire left side, maybe with some weight lifted the ache would diminish. He doubted he'd ever be free of it, but it might get better and for that, it was worth a try.  

"The gamma rays are a definite consistent with Selvig's reports on the tesseract. But it's going to take weeks to process." Bruce sighed exhaustively. 

"We bypass their main frame and direct route to Homer cluster we can clock this at around 600 terraflops"

Bucky looked between the two of them. For one, he was fairly certain that  _terraflop_ wasn't an actual word. For two, Homer was the crazy dad in Simpsons, that cartoon show with yellow people. Bucky didn't really like Simpsons, he was more for Family guy, Stewie was hilarious, he loved the crazy chicken fights and he loved the time travel episode when they went back to Leonardo Da Vinci and Stewie brought Brian a candle. 

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment, no tension no surprises." 

"OW!" 

Stark's version of no surprises was apparently electrical sharp surprises jabbed against people's sides. The little charge even startled Bucky out of his own head and he stared at the two scientists. Banner barely reacted at all, even smiled and shook his head a little and Bucky wasn't sure if he was surprised or impressed. Not because Banner didn't turn green and angry. But because Bucky himself couldn't handle things like that. 

A couple of weeks back he had slammed Rumlow to a wall, kept him in a firm choke grip by the left arm only because the other man had done a quick movement to his left that Bucky's brain somehow had connected to hostile. He'd freaked out the shield agents in the room and Rumlow had sported a dark bruise to his throat for over a week. 

Bucky supposed that could also have been because he really didn't like Rumlow for some reason unknown to him. But for a wild moment, it had felt good to see the other man struggle and grab for his arm while his feet were kicking uselessly over the ground. Something had flashed in his head that time, but it had been gone before he'd be able to see what it was and he'd let Rumlow back on the ground. 

"Hey!" Steve said loudly as he stepped into the lab. 

Bucky smiled slightly, as he always dud when Steve entered his line of vision. Like really, how had people not noticed how down he was for Steve back in the days? Maybe they had but they'd just never said anything about it. The commandos had known, they hadn't said anything but they'd give both him and Steve looks that implied that they'd known. They just hadn't cared.  

"Nothing?" Tony asked, staring at Bruce totally ignoring Steve.

"Are you nuts?" Steve said to Tony then turned to him "Bucky!"

"What did I do?" He asked and held his hands up. Steve sent him _that_  look. The one that said he should have done something earlier.

"Jury's out. You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drum, huge bag of weed?" Stark continued.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked and Bucky recognized it as; Steve being pissed but keeping it down kind of rage.

"Funny things are!" 

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offence Doc."

"It's all right, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Banner said, while continuing to work. Or at least trying to. 

Bucky slid down from the bench he was sitting on top of and crossed his arms tightly over his chest. The metal one under the real one. Steve might be overreacting a bit here, taking one look at Banner and he knew Tony hadn't gone too far in his being a jackass. Banner just looked like a guy who wanted to continue his work and not get into a fight about weather Tony was being a jackass or not. 

However, Bucky knew a lot better than saying anything about it to his spangly boyfriend of righteousness in something as trivial as this. Especially since Steve was a stubborn punk and Bucky didn't fancy sleeping on the couch and being denied kisses for a couple of days. The serum hadn't exactly stopped Steve from being a stubborn little shit and Bucky had got a taste from Steve's no kiss treatment. It had been an awful afternoon really. 

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging them too isn't it?" He heard Tony say.

_Crap._ Bucky sent Tony a promising death glare that told the scientist that he'd punch him in the fucking face later for dragging him into this argument. Steve just looked at him expectantly and Bucky just sighed deeply and stroke his metal hand through his hair. _Christ_  of course he'd felt there was something they weren't told, something wrong and possibly quite big that Fury was hiding for them. 

Usually, Bucky didn't doubt Fury was a good man with good intentions and usually he would have respected that the other had secrets. But this time... those secrets concerned the tesseract and secrets around the tesseract was never good. Bucky didn't like this whole mess and there was something that felt iffy about it. If they were researching about unlimited supply of energy... why not use safe methods that already worked?

"Fine, s'just... Why are they messin' with the fucking cube? I get in the war, we needed the advantage over Hitler and his Nazis. Fuck, we were both out there, we saw what was goin' on an' we needed a super weapon of our own. But now... Clean energy my ass. They wanted clean energy they'd put sun cells on all the roofs or some patch in the desert." Bucky said and frowned. "Stark's got his reactors right? Why not use'em if they're safe?" 

"A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the cube." Bruce said as he took off his glasses. 

Steve looked at Bucky for a while, Bucky was relieved to see that it was his thinking face. "I heard it." Steve stated and glanced over to Banner. "What about it?"

"Well, I think that was meant for you." Banner said, looking at Tony. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it's still all over the news."

"The stark tower? That big ugly... building in New York."

Bucky couldn't suffocate the amused snort that came out of him, but the look Tony gave was priceless. Also Bucky couldn't believe Steve hadn't made the correlation between Tony Stark and the Stark tower. It had his name and everything, like when they were kids and wrote their names at everything just so people would know it was theirs.

Bucky moved closer to Steve's left side and gently nudged the blond with his shoulder. Steve just rolled his eyes but there was that tiny twitch in Steve's lips telling he was quite proud over the tease he'd managed against Tony. Bucky just smiled slightly as he listened to the three of them as they spoke about Tony's reactor that would make the entire tower self sustaining for at least a year, even if it was just a prototype. 

However, when Tony informed them that he currently was having Jarvis hacking into all of Shields secure files he could feel Steve tense back up to offensive beside him again. Bucky understood because ever since Steve had found out that Shield was founded by Peggy, Philips and Stark, he'd had a soft spot for the organisation. He could get why Steve would be upset over Tony trying to hack it, even if Peggy no longer was in charge. 

"I'm sorry did you just say..."

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours I'll know every dirty secret  shield has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?"

Bucky could practically feel this spiraling out on thin ice and he really hoped Steve wouldn't start throwing punches. He wouldn't be overly surprised if he did, but he really hoped not. Even if Banner seemed rather relaxed, that could change in an instant and Bucky wasn't sure even him and Steve had a chance against an angry and green Bruce Banner.

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around." Steve said, voice practically dripping with venom.

"An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."

"I think Loki is trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them."

"Following is not really my style."

"And you're all about style, aren't you?"

"Of the people in this room, which one is A, wearing a spangly outfit and, B not of use?"

"That's enough. Both of you." Bucky said and stepped in between them both. He put a hand against Steve's chest and gave a light nudge to back him off and followed as soon as Steve took the step. "Steve, we both know somethin's up, this ain't Peggy in charge remember, y'cant just trust everything blindly. Stark, another word about Steve and I'll break your nose."

Steve looked as if he was about to say something more but Bucky began shoving him out of the room. He understood why Steve was upset, but he also knew Steve had to feel that something was fishy there. He was just being too stubborn for his own good right now. 

Once outside he let Steve go and sighed looking into those baby blue orbs. Steve glared at the door behind them but then deflated and Bucky didn't resist when he was tugged in for a hug. They didn't kiss, it wasn't that kind of a hug. It was a hug between two people who'd seen too much and was way too tired to do all this shit but knew they had to do it nonetheless. 

"So, we gonna go break open some doors'n figure out what's up?" He mumbled against the blond hair.

"Yeah. I wanna start in the storage unit."

"Well, lead the way cap." Bucky said with a smile. "I'll follow you anywhere Stevie." 


	8. The Avengers part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone get's pissed, someone get's clocked over the face, someone falls and someone is not going to sleep tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am just amazed by all Kudos, comments, subscriptions and bookmarks this thing's got! I'm just so thankful you guys! You are all amazing and a big THANK YOU! 
> 
> Steve and Bucky also sends their love.

Bucky following him anywhere lead the two to a locked storage unit aboard the ship. Not that a locked door kept two super soldiers on a mission, from finding out what was inside. They simply pushed the door open as if it was nothing. Bucky's metal hand accidentally left indents in the metal of the door but neither of them cared. The place probably had camera surveillance so they were busted either way. 

What they found in the unit however... it had made Steve see red and Bucky go rigid beside him. If they had cared about being busted before, they didn't do it after this discovery. The last time Steve and Bucky had stared down at what was in the box together, Bucky had fallen down to his death, lost an arm and caused him a memory glitch for about seventy years of his life. 

In the room, there must have been at least seventy crates. In each of these crates there laid the standard outfit of a HYDRA soldier, boots, jackets, helmets and guns. The guns that could obliterate a person by a single shot. The guns that Bucky had tried to fend off with the help of Steve's shield, the guns that had provided Steve with the worst day in his life as he saw Bucky fall to his assumed death.

Steve hadn't grabbed the gun from it's box. He had pretty much wrenched it out with enough force to break the helmet that laid beside it in the process and make the crate come crashing to the floor. Together they had marched back to the lab where hopefully Stark and Banner would still be working. It might hurt his pride to admit that, _yes,_ Stark had been right. But Steve's pride could accept that.

What he couldn't accept was HYDRA weapons used by SHIELD without his knowledge. Not when he had his Bucky back.  

But as they stepped into the lab, Fury was already there. He was speaking to Stark and Banner, questioning what they were doing. It seemed as if the director had found out about Stark's decryption program and was now quite annoyed with the billionaire. Not that Fury had any right to be annoyed, not after what Steve and Bucky had found. 

"By the way, what is phase two?" Tony just asked and moved a screen so they could all see it.

Steve already knew. Phase two was what he was holding in his hands. He dropped the large gun heavily on the work bench beside him, making sure to use a little more force than strictly needed just to make a loud bang. It was either that or getting into a fist fight and he wanted an explanation of why the weapons that killed thousands and caused Bucky's fall was aboard the ship with them. Fistfights were rarely efficient when it came to information. 

"Phase two is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons." He said, aware his voice was laced with the anger he felt.

"Computer worked a lil' slow for us." Bucky  grunted with a nod to Stark. "We kinda wanna know why y're in cahoots with HYDRA because what other fucking reason is it that y've got that shit here?" Bucky's tone turned darker by the moment and Steve was happy that anger wasn't aimed at him.

Really, when had Bucky turned this terrifying? Maybe it was the long hair or the metal arm, but Steve remembered a kid that hadn't been able to even pull off a glare when they were younger. Anyone Bucky had tried to glare down at someone and adults had just called him cute and adorable. That's why Bucky had constantly used his charm card, melted people's hearts instead of threatening them. 

Of course, it had grown away, around the time Bucky had started to be able to grow facial hair, he had figured how to have this unnerving disappointed parent stare. Now that stare was more looking like the stare of certain death and doom and Steve was really happy to have Bucky there, able to do it. Even a tough man like Fury must feel a bit intimidated by that stare. 

"Rogers, Barnes, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This doesn't mean we're making..." Fury began, but was quickly cut of by Stark showing a screen to them all. 

"I'm sorry Nick, what were you lying?"

Anyone would know what happened on the screen Tony was presenting. Steve'd seen enough bombs to know that the screen was building up a nuke and the blue in the middle? Steve could safely assume that it was meant to be a representation of the tesseract's power. A bomb like that could wipe out all life in an area large as all of New York and more if it was used.

And hadn't he crashed a plane into the Arctic just a month ago ( _for him_ ) just to prevent that from happening? To prevent anyone from having that power? The world really hadn't changed had it?

"I was wrong about you director, the world hasn't changed a bit." He said cold. 

That's the moment Natasha and Thor decided to walk into the lab through the other door. Steve quietly wondered exactly how much of this Natasha already knew, but he elected not to ask. Not that he had to keep wondering for long since Banner asked about it anyway.

Steve had already understood that Natasha and Bruce had met before this whole deal, at first Steve had though they might be friends but he was starting to suspect she was the reason he was there and maybe not entirely willingly. He doubted he'd been dragged there screaming and kicking, _he'd seen the footage of the Hulk_ , but maybe he'd been blackmailed or pressured into it. 

Natasha though, seemed a lot more concerned about Banner being in the lab than the fact that he was accusing her for manipulating him into being there. Of course, Natasha's wish to get Bruce out of there might be related to the slight hysteria that could be heard in Banner's voice when he said he had been in Calcutta which was very well removed before they had brought him here. A statement that confirmed that Banner hadn't been entirely willing to come.

"Why the fuck is shield even building weapons of mass-destruction to begin with?" Bucky cut off before anyone started an honest fight.

"Language." Steve said.

It was pure habit, whenever Bucky cussed Steve would chide him for it. When they had been kids, Steve had always called Bucky out on the cursing because he was scared that Bucky'd go to hell. He hadn't wanted Bucky to go to hell because what if he himself went to heaven and Bucky wasn't there? Steve had been sure that wouldn't be heaven at all for him. 

Later, _when he wasn't frightened for Bucky's immortal soul_ , telling Bucky to keep his language had become a habit.

Now Tony was looking at him as if he'd said something amazingly shocking and as if he had a hundred witty comments about it and wasn't quite sure which one to use. The rest of the group were all looking at Fury, expecting an explanation and luckily enough for Steve,  _(who was long since tired of Tony's quick remarks)_ Fury spoke up. 

"Because of him." Fury said an pointed at Thor.

"Me?" 

Thor sounded just as confused as Steve felt. Had they both missed something here? He hadn't been filled in much about Thor, between meeting Thor and getting to this point Bucky has just mentioned something about Thor, some city in the desert and a fight he hadn't been involved in. It hadn't been very detailed, but Steve had a hard time to picture Thor actually being the start of that fight. 

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone. But we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned." Fury continued as if Thor hadn't given his input. 

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor said, seemingly earnest.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

This was very quickly turning into a downward spiral to madness as they were all jumping around from subject to subject and Steve couldn't help but getting more and more pissed. The need to punch something, or rather someone, more specifically Tony and his wise cracking. The urge was boiling in his blood, even more so now than when he and Bucky had found that  HYDRA weapon. 

The anger in the room seemed to seep into everyone, down into their bones. Everyone was arguing angrily between each other, the only ones that Steve didn't hear much of was Natasha and Bucky. Steve couldn't understand why Bucky wasn't angry like himself, he just kind of stood there, looking slightly confused, exchanging looks with Natasha. 

That too pissed Steve off. Why wasn't Bucky standing by his side in this argument against Stark? Why wasn't Bucky angry over everything going on? Had Steve been a little bit more self aware, he might have wondered why he himself was even angry at Bucky for not being angry. But now, he was just angry at pretty much everything in the room. Especially Stark.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." And by that, Steve meant Bucky, he meant Peggy and he  meant the commandos. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you." 

"I think I would just cut the wire." It was said so effortlessly, not even a thought behind it.

"Always a way out. You know you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero." 

"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle." 

THWACK. A metal fist connected with the left side of Stark's face, the impact threw him back like a doll against the closest work bench and Bucky was now taking up the space slightly in front of Steve, shielding him from Stark. Steve wasn't sure he'd seen Bucky this pissed off since that time at school where Roy Simmons had called Steve a fairy and asked why he wasn't in jail for it yet. 

"Do not fucking go there Stark." Bucky growled, voice practically vibrating of fierce rage and the entire room hushed up to watch. Tony just looked shocked. "No one here fuckin knew'im. He was a hero before he was even six years'ol. Don' come'n give me ya fucking bullshit Stark. Steve's ten times the hero y'are even without the fuckin' serum. Y'get that?" The brunet snapped dangerously.

Steve quietly reached out and wrapped his fingers around Bucky's metal ones. He wasn't sure if it was to keep Bucky  back from attacking Stark, or if he did it because he was honestly touched by Buck's words. He hadn't known Bucky had seen him that way. The way Buck spoke... had Steve really been Bucky's hero? Even when he was a scrawny kid that got beat up in back alleys?

It was hard to grasp, that Bucky meant it, but Steve suddenly realized how much he had needed to hear Bucky say that. How much it meant that someone said that he'd been their hero even before Erskin. Especially someone like Bucky. Bucky, who'm was someone who had been Steve's number one hero since the first day they met. Back in the days, a lot of the fights, a lot of the things he'd done, he'd done'em because it was right. But also because it was what Bucky would have done. 

The silence that had settled over the room after Bucky hit Stark was broken by Thor, chuckling. Steve who had temporarily lost his anger in favor of Bucky's words was surprised to hear the taunting in Thor's voice as he spoke. "You people are so petty. And tiny." Which, according to Steve, was a bit of an exaggeration since both him and Bucky was about the same size as Thor himself. 

"Yeah this is a team." Banner said and shook his head. 

"He punched me in the face!" Tony exclaimed as if the penny finally had dropped. "Is everyone going to pretend that didn't even happen?"

"No one else would be stupid enough to stand that close while insulting his boyfriend." Natasha said calmly.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr Banner back to his..." Fury began but was cut off by Banner. 

"Where? You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case..." It was the beginning of an excuse but Banner didn't seem to be in the mood of hearing it out.

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried." Banner said as if without thinking, because the next came out a lot less aggressive. "I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?" 

Steve was so occupied by Banner talking he nearly forgot that Bucky just had hit Tony in the face. But he did notice how Bucky slowly edged the metal hand over towards Steve's chest, as if readying himself to push Steve away from something. Only then did Steve realize that Banner had picked Loki's scepter up and he tensed slightly himself, lifted his right shoulder to a ready position to grab his shield if he needed it. 

"Doctor Banner." He wouldn't have that weapon going off this high up in the air, not with Bucky anywhere close to it. Never again. "Put down the scepter." 

Only then did Banner seem to realize he was even holding it. At the same moment Steve realized that that thing was a lot more dangerous than he'd thought, if it was working it's way into people's minds even without anyone controlling it? Was that why they had all just fought? Was that were all anger came from? How come it didn't seem to affect Bucky and Natasha as much as the rest of them?

A beeping cut through the tension and Banner quickly put the scepter down on the bench behind him again and hurried over to investigate. The entire room took a collective sigh of relief, all of them happy the stick was out of play and they didn't have to worry about Banner turning into the hulk. 

Of course, those things never were good to think. And almost the moment he'd thought it, the entire room exploded. Steve ended up on the floor on top of Bucky. He saw Natasha and Bruce fly out the window and all sorts of alarms began beeping and blaring out their warning that something was up. As if they hadn't understood that by the blast. 

They weren't given much time to think things over before they all just sprung to action. 

Steve, Bucky and Tony headed to the third turbine that had been taken out by the blast and Tony told them to get to the relays. Which Bucky did, while Steve hoovered behind him nervously. He did not like that they were on a height with nothing keeping them from falling to their deaths. It was too much like the train, too easy for things to go wrong.

"How does it look in there"

"It seem to run on some form of electricity." Steve informed.

Bucky snorted amused where he stood kneeling by the panel and looked up at him with a cocked brow. Right. Maybe leave the electrical things to the man that at least had worked in a garage and had been around a little longer than himself. Bucky had always had an aptitude for mechanics and electronics since he was interested in them. Not that it had been enough to keep him in school, but he was a quick learner when it came to things that interested him. 

Steve had always been the one who forgot to put the plug in to the stove and was confused why it didn't work. According to Bucky, the phone Steve had now was the simplest on the market and Steve was still trying to figure it out **_with_**  Bucky's help.

"The relays are... well dented, give me three minutes and I'll fix it. Enough so that if you kick start it, it'll work at least." Bucky informed. "S'just like a damn fancy buick, Barnes, y'can do this." Steve heard the brunet mumbled to himself.

"Yup, gonna have to get in there and push."

"Won't he be shredded if he does that?" Steve asked uncertain. 

"That stater control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could..."

"What's he want us to do? Order pizza or somethin'?" Bucky asked while doing... something that Steve had no idea what it was. 

"Speak English!" Steve told Stark, happy that at least Bucky hadn't understood anything either, so Steve wasn't a complete dummy.

There was a moment of silence on the line and Steve could practically hear Tony roll his eyes and groan about the two of them not having a clue about what on earth he was talking about. He wondered if it was a case of Stark being a genius or a case of him and Bucky being really old and stupid. Well, maybe just him, Buck seemed to be having things under control. 

"You see a red leaver there somewhere? It'll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it and wait for my word." 

Getting to the leaver was just an easy jump. The hard part came when there suddenly was bad guys shooting at him and Steve knew his shield was still laying around in the lab where it had been thrown to the other side of the room by the first blast. But he'd survived without a shield before and he'd do it again. Especially since they were also shooting at his Bucky and that was not acceptable. 

He begun with fighting them up close, then he realized that took him away from the red leaver he knew he needed to pull or Stark would be shredded, so in the end he stood on the higher ledge, trying to shoot at the other guys. But Steve really had a terrible aim. There was a reason why Bucky had been the sniper and Steve had punched things in close combat. No matter how much Bucky tried to teach him, Steve was terrible at aiming. 

"Christ Stevie! You really need to learn." Bucky grunted suddenly from his side.

Steve sighed relieved when Bucky grabbed the rifle from his hands and shot off about five shots before the other guy was down, then turned to Steve with a teasing smirk and placed a quick peck by the corner of Steve's mouth. 

"I had him on the ropes." Steve deadpanned. 

"Oh yeah sure ya-" 

Bucky didn't have time to finish that sentence before there was another gun shot and a pinging noise from Bucky's left arm. Steve was shoved to the side by Bucky before he even realized what happened. Then the gunman went down, and the next thing, Bucky wasn't there.

It was so surreal, one moment Bucky had been teasing him, the next, Bucky was gone. Steve barely had time to see the shocked face Bucky did as the brunet lost his footing. Then there just wasn't any floor to catch him and Bucky stumbled backwards before Steve could catch him. It just happened too fast.

"BUCKY!" 

Steve threw himself to the edge after Bucky. He'd been in this situation before. Bucky was clinging to a piece of metal with his metal hand, kicking in free air in panic and looked at Steve. Steve tried to reach for Bucky, but Stark was calling for help over the radio in his ear. 

"The red fucking leaver Steve!" Bucky was shouting at him where he struggled. 

Steve didn't care, he needed to get to Bucky, but it just wasn't close enough.  _He_ wasn't good enough, he couldn't reach and he couldn't believe this was happening. Not again. The first time, it hadn't felt real. The second time... it was even less real. This time Bucky was shouting at him to get the leaver instead of him, as if Steve wouldn't let the world burn if only he could save Bucky. 

Then Bucky's eyes widened in honest terror and the metal gave up under his hands and he was falling.

Again.

Gone.

Steve couldn't do anything but stare. He couldn't even scream Bucky's name, could barely hear Tony screaming over the radio at him. He wasn't even sure it was him who pulled the leaver, he just knew that suddenly he was sitting on the metal net of a floor under the leaver, staring at the spot Bucky had vanished from, but nothing happened. Bucky didn't just jump back up again, he was just gone.

Then there was the flash of red and the iron suit that swooped in and landed on the floor with a crash. Steve didn't even look up, he was opting jumping. It was too late to catch Bucky in the air for a last moment with each other before they died... but he'd at least be reunited after... he knew there was no way Bucky'd survive, not from this height. 

"Christ fucking hell I hate heights." 

Steve shot up from the floor and stared down at the _two_  people on their backs, side by side. The iron suit... and the black captain america uniform. Bucky's uniform. Bucky was laying beside Tony on the floor looking pale, exhausted but alive. 

"Bucky..." Steve was hallucinating things wasn't he? No one had that luck TWICE.

"And Tony, you know the guy you nearly got shredded." Stark said complaining. "What took you so long?" 

"Bucky." Steve said stupidly again. 

"I'm here doll." Bucky said still on his back on the floor, closing his eyes tightly and rubbed his face with both hands. "Still here." He said again, more quietly as if he was trying to let himself know it. 

Steve was fairly sure he'd never ever in his entire life moved as quick as he did right then. In an instant he was slouching down on his knees on the floor, tugging Bucky close in a crushing hug and Bucky slumped heavily against him, burying his face into Steve's shoulder and wrapped both arms tightly around Steve as if he'd fall again if Steve didn't hold him. If Steve had been freaked out by seeing Bucky fall, by the trembling he felt in Bucky, Bucky must have been in a fucking frenzy of fear. 

"France." Steve mumbled to the dark hair. "We're taking a ship there. No more flying." 

Bucky just nodded mutely into Steve's shoulder. "Love you Steve." He could hear muffled against his shoulder.

"Love you too Bucks." He replied quietly against the brown long hair. 

"Yay, awkward third wheel. Wow, never tried that before." Tony said, still laying flat on the floor. "Okay, you guys need to help me out of this. I'm stuck."


	9. The Avengers part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle of New York.

Phil was dead.

That was probably what had hit them all the hardest in the aftermath of the attack on the carrier. They had all been so occupied on their own fights and struggles that no one had been there to save Phil from death. Romanov had been trying to contain the hulk, then taking on Barton on her own. Thor taking over from Natasha to stop the hulk, then going after Loki. Stark nearly getting shredded in the rotors and Bucky nearly falling again.

Fury had tossed Phil's Captain America trading cards on the table after the fight. Blooded but signed by Steve. He had told them about an idea, the idea that Phil had died believing in. The avengers initiative. A hope that a group of super people would team up and defend the world from bad guys like Loki. An idea, that had proved to be impossible. An idea that had died with Phil.

Steve had only listened with half an ear. His focus had lain with Bucky who had quietly and carefully collected Phil's cards from the table, Steve had watched as Bucky very gently cleaned the cards free of blood with the hem of his shirt before stacking them and slipping them into an inner pocket of his uniform as if it had been the most valuable thing in Bucky's life. 

No one had stopped him from doing it, no one had asked why he did it. Everyone knew that Bucky had a special friendship with Phil, Bucky had told Steve earlier that Phil was Bucky's go to man when it came to adjusting to this time. Phil might have seen Steve and Bucky as heroes that was stars above him, but Bucky had seen Phil as an equal, as a friend. 

Those friends were always the hardest to loose. 

Steve had just needed to send one look in Bucky's direction once Fury was done talking to know. The determination was enough to tell Steve that Bucky would hunt Loki to the edge of the world to avenge Phil. When it came to it, so would Steve, Tony, Natasha and Clint as well, and they left the carrier together on a stolen quinjet. 

Natasha had knocked some sense into Barton, quite literary smacked Loki's control of him out of his head. They knew Loki commanded an army if another portal was opened, so they had been in a race against time to get to Loki before that happened. Tony had been the one to realize where Loki would be, and halfway there, he'd flown ahead of the others since the iron man suit went faster than a quinjet every day. 

When they finally reached New York, the hope that Loki wouldn't have had the time to open his portal was shattered into little pieces. The entirety of New York seemed to be buzzing with Loki's alien army, they were on the ground threatening civilians, in the air shooting at anything moving, there were these long fish like things but in the size of a skyscraper  _flying_ in the air. 

At first they split up, trying to cover as much ground as possible, trying to get civilians out of the way. Steve tried to direct some cops into what to do and could see from the corner of his eyes how Bucky tore the door off a car with his metal hand and helped the people stuck inside. Steve knew he shouldn't be happy about Bucky loosing his arm, but right now he was rather happy over how easily it could do things like that without risking Bucky slicing his hand open on the metal. 

As they progressed in getting people off the streets Steve realized they needed a new tactic. Mostly because they didn't  _have_ a tactic right now. Making his way back to where Natasha and Clint was still working side by side wasn't very hard, nor was taking down the chitauri around them. Thor joined soon after by crackling down a few more with lightning and boy, Steve was glad to see him. 

Bucky joined soon after. His own rifle had been exchanged into one of the chitauri weapons, Steve assumed Bucky had run out of ammo somewhere along the line. Another good thing was the fact that Bruce returned to them, something that turned the odds a bit more in their favor. Especially since he took down that large flying fish thing with just one blow. 

But since the sky only  was invaded by more enemies, they knew they were far from winning this battle. Steve easily took on his usual captain role and scrambled up a strategy that could possibly work on the top of his head. It might not work for them to win, but it would work to contain this mess until they had a better plan.

Clint would do best on a roof, like Bucky, he was the best role as a sniper. Tony would turn anything that moved too far away from the area around and keep the fight from moving out of range for them. Thor would do best in trying to slow the ones ascending from the portal as much as he could, giving the rest of them a little time to fight what was already around.

Himself, Natasha and Bucky would stay around ground level for now, keep the aliens on the ground busy by bodily fighting them . Once upon a time, he might not have asked a dame to do that, but both Peggy and Natasha herself had proved that women were often a lot more capable than men in a fight. 

He would have put Bucky on a roof as well if he had more manpower down at the streets. But Bucky could move in a fight as good as himself, if not better. And that metal arm of his could come to a lot more use down here than up as a sniper. Also, Steve didn't want Bucky on heights after what happened earlier that day. Steve was still terrified Bucky would fall from him again. 

After a while, Natasha hitched a ride to get up to the tower. Steve was impressed by her resourcefulness, also how agile she was even if she was thrown up in the air with the help of Steve's shield. Not that he got much time to think about it since Clint called out about civilians cornered in a bank and he happened to be the closest one to the place. 

As it turned out there was three chitauri. They hadn't been a problem if it wasn't for the one that had a bomb. Fighting them he lost his helmet, nearly got thrown over a reeling and in the end nearly got blasted to hell. But instead the blast threw him out the window, having him crashing down on top of a car. The shield had taken the blast but he didn't have time to move it before he crashed at the car, hoping he hadn't broken any ribs. 

He wasn't sure if it had or hadn't because his entire body ached when he stood back up slowly. He just needed a moment to breath, the screams and the sounds had him thrown back for a moment, back to the war, back to seeing his comrades fall in battle, be it from bullets or explosions. It just never seemed to end for him. They say they won, but here Steve stood, there was still a war raging around him and more people dying. 

What was he even fighting for anymore? 

A metal hand to his chest pulled him back to the now, a smiling face in front of him reminded him he wasn't alone. There was more to life than war, there was Bucky and as long as there was a possible future to be had with Bucky, it was worth any fight. 

"Hi sugar, y'rationed?" Bucky said with a cheeky grin. "Was thinkin' maybe we could go for milkshakes'n dancin' after all this bad buzz." 

"Jerk." Steve groaned but couldn't help the smile that spread on his lips. "I don'feel like milkshakes, tho, heard frozen yogurt s'supposed to be good." 

"I'll do my best doll." Bucky said with a wink.

Steve huffed out a laugh and dove in for a hard kiss. Bucky was ridiculous and Steve loved him, didn't care who knew, didn't care who saw it. They might die today before Bucky could take him out on this promised date of frozen yogurt and dancing and if they'd die... Steve would be damned if he didn't get at least one more kiss from Bucky's lips.

Bucky didn't hesitate to kiss him back, even put his metal hand in Steve's hair and the other to Steve's hip even if that meant that the weapon Bucky had been carrying dropped to the ground. It was so stupid and they put themselves at such unnecessary risk, but he couldn't help but feel the world straighten itself out. As if the kiss had given him back the ability to think straight. 

"Guys, you really don't have time for that right now," Clint said over the radio, "Thor need's your help on the ground."

Bucky that bastard, just laughed lightly and saluted upwards to the building Clint was currently on before both of them began making their way to where Thor was reported fighting. Steve really hoped Natasha would be able to find some way to close that damn portal because the situation was starting to get out of hands. There was just too many of the alien army for them to be able to take down and constantly there was new ones pouring down from the hole in the sky. 

When they reached Thor, Steve took a hit to his stomach that made him fall. Those chitauri blasters hurt, but they didn't pierce, that was at least something. It still turned Bucky into a raging frenzy though, grabbing Steve's shield the brunet threw himself into the middle of the group and used Steve's shield like some sort of large circular knife, cutting three chitauri heads clean off their shoulders in one single move. 

Thor bashed away a car at another group before helping Steve back up on his feet and Bucky returned to his side. They began throwing the shield between themselves, coordinating their punches and moves as if it was a duet of a dance. Something they'd never done but that simply came as a second nature. Somehow Bucky knew where to be next to help Steve and Steve knew exactly what to do to help Bucky. 

Then Natasha called she had a way to close the damn portal, but Tony called her off. Someone had sent off a nuke to blow the entire place up in less than a minute and Tony intended to place it up in the portal before they closed it.

It would save a lot of people, but as he looked at Bucky, he saw that Bucky thought the same as he himself did. That would be a one way trip. There wasn't time enough to get that nuke up there and still get back down, and even if there was time, Steve wasn't sure the suit would work in space. But when he said it to Tony, Tony didn't respond. 

Steve knew he'd heard, he also knew the sacrifice by heart. Certain death in exchange for the life of everyone still in New York. It was a sacrifice Steve had done himself not even _(for him)_  a month ago. 

They saw the blast from the nuke happen soon after Stark had gotten up there. All the chitauri had got a seizure as if a bolt of electricity had gone through them, then they'd fallen to the ground, most likely all dead. The ones in the air along with the last flying huge fish thing, just fell to the ground or crashed into buildings as they fell out of the air. 

In the end. Steve had to call for the order to close the portal even if Tony wasn't back with them. If they wouldn't, the nuke would hit them anyway and the sacrifice would have been for nothing. 

From the ground, they saw how the beam of blue light exploded and the portal closed in on itself to allow the blue of the sky to reclaim it's natural state. But just as the last of it turned blue, the iron suit slipped through it. A wave of excitement and hope washed over Steve and he straightened out slightly, this might be the day he wouldn't loose anyone on his team. 

But the hope was quickly replaced by terror as he realized that Tony wasn't flying, he was falling. Dread grasped his chest with an iron fist, was this how his life would always be? Everyone he knew would fall to their deaths without him being able to stop it? What was the point of his serum if he couldn't even use it to save the people he called friends?

Beside him Thor began swing his hammer to get up there, but Steve knew Tony was falling too fast, too heavy. But the next they knew, a loud roar rung through the sky, the hulk leaped from a roof, caught Tony mid fall and crashed them both into a building. Steve watched as the hulk slid down the building to slow the force of the fall and by the end of it he jumped, crashed them backwards into a car with Tony on top. 

Hitting ground, Tony was still not moving. Thor who'd scrambled over there first turned Tony around and ripped off the front of the helmet without effort. Steve dove down on the ground in a second flat, trying to hear or at least feel some kind of breath... but there was nothing. Tony was just gone. 

"Stark!" Bucky snapped loudly. "C'me on wake up y'asshole!" 

Steve jumped when Bucky smacked the metal hand over the chest of the iron suit, straight over the reactor. But it wasn't because of the sudden hit Steve jumped so startled, it was because at the very same time, the hulk had decided that roaring was the best thing to do. And maybe it was, because whether it was Bucky hitting the suit to kick start it somehow or if it was that the hulk had literary scared Tony back from being dead, Tony woke up with a small yelp. 

"What the hell..?" Tony said quietly, probably to himself. Then: "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"Of course I did." Bucky deadpanned. "Had to wake ya somehow." 

"What!" 

Tony stared up at Bucky, and Steve was impressed how long Bucky could hold that serious expression before he broke out laughing. Steve just breathed out a quiet chuckle and shook his head. Tony was alive and Bucky was still not done messing with the Stark family, in every way he possibly could.

Somehow, they were all breathing, they were still acting fairly normal and the city was still standing. Against all odds, they had done the impossible and fought an entire army from space with only a handful of people, and they had  **won**.

"Ugh, I hate you guys." Tony groaned loudly. "What happened? Did we do it?"

"Awh, Stark, after what we've just shared?" Bucky said playfully between chuckles.

"You and Bucky? You didn't use tongue." Steve said with a cheeky smile. Then he sobered up and nodded. "We won."

"Well, yay, hooray, good job guys. Let's, let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just, take a day." Tony said and relaxed slightly where he laid on his back on the ground. "Have you ever tried Shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is but I wanna try it."

And they did. 

After they had locked Loki up in a pair of Asgardian cuffs, a muzzle and with Thor's hammer resting over his chest, making it impossible for the black haired trickster god to move, the rest of them went for Shawarma. 

Steve was amazed that the joint was even holding up, even if there was dust and debris all over the place. The ones working there didn't mind it when they pushed two tables together and ordered enough food for half an army. Steve ate a lot, Bucky ate a lot and Thor ate almost as much as the two of them together it seemed. 

The Shawarma, Steve had to admit was rather good. He would definitely add it to his and Bucky's list of takeout food they both liked. Bucky had introduced him to some already,  _the sashimi hadn't been Steve's favorite though,_ and this was probably up among his top five at least. There was still nothing that beat a good pizza with extra cheese and bread sticks though.

Natasha had popped her leg up in Clint's lap and Clint had his foot resting on Natasha's chair. Clint's free hand, _the one who wasn't holding a french fry,_ was placed on the back of Natasha's chair, his thumb stroking her back with minimal barely even visible motions. The arrow necklace around Natasha's neck suddenly made just a little bit more sense now. 

Tony was just keeping uncharacteristically quiet while he ate. There had been a few comments about Shawarma and that it was actually good, but other than that he was mostly silent. Steve knew the empty tired stare though, he had seen that stare on a lot of the boys back in the army. Steve knew they probably should keep their eyes on Stark in the near future, just to make sure the billionaire was alright.

Bruce was looking roughed up where he ate his fries in silence. He didn't look as haunted as Tony but again, this wasn't Banner's first round in a war zone. Thor had quietly started on his third portion of food, seemingly not phased by any of this. Where everyone else just looked and felt tired, Thor looked as if he could partake in a second round if asked.

Then there was Steve and Bucky. Steve felt like if he'd be able to sleep for another seventy years and the only thing that kept him from falling off his chair was how he leaned most on his weight on Bucky where their chairs stood scooted close together. He nearly did fall over when Bucky leaned to the side to pull up a white box he'd kept by his feet. 

Steve curiously looked at the box from where he rested his head against Bucky's shoulder. When the box was opened only to reveal half molten frozen yogurt, Steve actually chuckled because that was absolutely something his Buck'd do. Bucky just hummed and stuffed a spoonful in his mouth, making himself more comfortable against Steve. 

"Where the hell did you get ice cream?" Tony asked as he stared at Bucky and the box. 

Well, to be fair, everyone was looking at Bucky and his box and Steve just smiled fondly. If there was something Bucky was good at, it was sniffing out where he could get his sweets and his cigarettes. Back in the war Bucky had somehow always been able to get his hands on something sweet to eat, once an entire pack of marshmallows in the middle of a forest that he refused to share until Steve was in his lap hidden in their shared tent and traded the marshmallows for kisses.

"Shop down the street." Bucky said and shrugged. 

"There was a frozen yogurt shop still open after this?" Clint asked curiously and glanced out the door. "How far?"

"We are sitting in a shawarma joint." Bucky pointed out. "Four shops down across the street."

There was a silence for a while and Bucky kept spooning up the pink frozen yogurt into his mouth, looking like a happy kid. Clint tapped the Natasha's chair then got up and slipped out the door with the promise he'd be back in a moment. It made Steve smile, despite how exhausted he was and he tilted his head to look up at Bucky with his best puppy look. 

"Can I have some?" He asked hopefully. 

Bucky snorted and placed a cold kiss on Steve's forehead before spoon feeding him with the quite honestly delicious desert. It was strawberry flavored, but not the kind of artificial strawberry flavor he was used to, instead it actually tasted like strawberries. The small chunks of the berries really broke off the smooth yogurt perfectly and added to the realistic strawberry flavor. 

It was nice, Steve decided, to be given a break like this. Sure he'd been with Bucky ever since he woke up and they hadn't been doing anything special, but it had still been part of his debriefing to get him back to the world. This right here and now, it was just a break from everything. Food with friends and desert with his boyfriend. 

"S'good." He mumbled after a few more spoonfuls and a cold kiss. 

"Awh, Stevie, y'gonna gimme the cooties." Bucky whined playfully. 

"Shuddit jerk." He grumbled. "Y're already a fairy. I ain't gonna infect ya with it." He said and stole Bucky's spoon. 

Bucky only gave a little huff in complaint over being robbed of the spoon but Steve just pinched his thigh before getting himself another spoon of the yogurt. He probably hadn't been this affectionate and close with Bucky if he hadn't been so tired he didn't have the mind to care about who saw them. The rest of their friends around the table didn't really seem to mind it anyway.  

Clint returned with his own box of frozen yogurt and popped back down with Natasha and they all just let a comfortable silence surround them. Sitting like this, with no trouble and no danger threatening them was relaxing. As long as they didn't look outside the window or thought about how tired they all were, it was hard to believe that they had just fought the battles of their lives against an alien force.

Tomorrow they'd probably sleep or nap the day away, but Steve was just about ready to go to France as soon as possible. He just wanted Bucky for himself for a couple of days without interruptions.

France would give him just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND HERE THE AVENGERS END! Next up is Steve's and Bucky's trip to France, then I was thinking iron man three or maybe some more stucky adventures. Do you guys have any ideas you might wanna see here? :)


	10. The captains lands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky goes to France, they deserved it. 
> 
> (NSFW)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is smut. If you don't like smut, you should just skip this chapter and go straight for the next one for stucky fluff!
> 
> So sorry about the long wait, I've just been busy and I'm not the best smut writer which made things slower but yeah hope you enjoy.

When it came to their trip to France, they ended up taking a plane anyway.

Stark had offered them to use one of his private jets and Steve had quickly realized that Buck would most likely die of boredom if they went by ship. If there was something he knew about Bucky, it was that his boyfriend knew how to sleep standing and that he had never been good at just staying at one place doing nothing for a longer period of time before he got bored out of his minds.

Bucky, after all, was the reason Steve had learned how to speed sketch. 

Luckily, the most eventful thing that occurred on the plane was when Bucky pulled Steve up into his lap for heated kisses. They hadn't had sex, just kissed and cuddled, chatting quietly about silly unimportant stuff. Since it was a seven hour flight, they even managed to get in a couple of hours sleep where they huddled close together on a couch. 

Stark, or rather his right hand Pepper Potts, had fixed them up with the hotel. If Steve and Bucky had done it themselves, they would not have found themselves in a spacey white painted room that screamed new and expensive. Hell, even the sheets on the bed was made of silk goddammit and they had a view over the Eiffel tower. 

Steve didn't even pretend he wasn't awestruck by the room. This room probably cost more for one hour than him and Bucky had been able to scrape up their entire lives back in Brooklyn. It wasn't just a room, it was an entire apartment of luxury. It was also a teeny bit overwhelming and made Steve feel ridiculously out of place in his white button down shirt and jeans where he stood in the expensive room. 

He looked out the window one more time to look at the slowly sinking sun behind the iron bars of the tower before he turned around to seek out Bucky. Who was supposed to unpack their stuff in the bedroom. Not that he actually expected the other soldier to actually do that, and thus he wasn't very surprised to find Bucky sprawled out on his back on the bed. 

Bucky's right arm was draped lazily over his eyes and the fingers of the metal arm were wrapped around his right wrist. There was a small relaxed pull on the right side of Bucky's lips and the brown long hair fanned out over the white silk, as if Bucky was some kind of angel with a halo. The black tight t-shirt Bucky was wearing had rode up on his tummy and showed off hard abs, his navel and the dark line of hair trailing down to the low fitted jeans. 

Steve either wanted to find his sketchbook and draw Bucky's perfect splendor while Bucky was so nicely laying still for a change, or he wanted to place soft teasing butterfly kisses along Bucky's stomach and push the fabric of the t-shirt up until he could lick and nip Buck's nipples until Bucky was begging him for more. And really, his sketch supplies was longest down in his suitcase and all his blood had rushed distractedly down south. 

"Y'like what ya see Captain?" Bucky purred teasingly, his voice filled of mischief and a low note of desire. 

Steve didn't answer at once, he just placed his right knee to the bed, deliberately placing it between Bucky's legs too scoot them more apart. Bucky hummed approving and put his hands behind Steve's neck and pulled him in close until they were kissing. Steve didn't know who opened their mouth's for their tongues to play the first, but neither did he care. 

The metal was cooling on the back of his neck that suddenly felt impossibly warm in comparison. When he pulled up and away from Bucky's lips he took his time to suck Bucky's lower lip to his mouth and stroke one hand slowly over Buck's side, slipping it in under his t-shirt and following up the ribs. 

"Like ain't a good word enough sarge." He murmured against Bucky's lips. "Get your shirt of for me Buck?"

Bucky gave up a soft moan as Steve's fingers found their way to the nub on Bucky's right side and gave a small teasing pinch. The things Bucky's little noises did to Steve's body... Christ, he was just happy he wasn't an asthmatic any longer. He placed a couple of soft kisses along Bucky's jaw and down his neck, _Steve had found that he loved the stubble Bucky had these days_ , it felt right somehow to feel that slight burn from the whiskers against his skin. 

He only stopped his line of kissing and sucking at Bucky's soft skin to let Bucky tug his t-shirt over his head and toss it aside and Steve immediately dove in to kiss all over his collarbones, leaving a sloppy trail of kisses, licks and hickeys down over Bucky's well fit chest and dipped his tongue teasingly into his navel. Bucky who was leaning back against his elbows gave up small soft gasps and moans which filled Steve's entire being with pure lust.

He made sure to look up bashfully from under his lashes as he bit down on the edge of Bucky's low jeans and gave a little tug before working the button and zipper open with nothing but his mouth to help. 

The only word Steve could describe Bucky with when he was like this, leaned back and eyes hooded of lust, chewing his red bottom lip, was beautiful. The way Bucky was trying to keep the sounds back by throwing back his head and let his breath out in quiet quick little gasps. Both metal and flesh fingers curling in the silky fabric of the bed sheets to keep him grounded. 

Steve smirked as the zipper finally came down, a bit proud he'd managed to do that without using his hands. But pride turned into amusement very quickly.

He had half expected to find Bucky going commando under his jeans, Bucky sometimes did that back in their apartment in Brooklyn just to get to the fucking a little bit faster. _"Impatient jerk."_ Steve would say fondly each time before straddling Bucky's lap. What Steve hadn't expected though was to be faced with a pair of screaming blue boxers with red lining and a shield square over Bucky's bulging erection.

"Seriously, Buck?" He asked amused as he looked up at the brunet, temporarily having forgot what they were doing.

Bucky just laughed and pushed himself up higher on his elbows with that winning shit eating grin painting his entire face. It was just screaming of Bucky being a smart ass, so Steve pinched him on the hip for good measure. The pinch made Bucky let out a laugh and the sound of it was like music to Steve. He suddenly realized Bucky laughed way too little and he missed Bucky's honest to god laughs. 

"Hey! Just helpin'y mark out ya territory." Bucky informed him while still grinning. "Like puttin'ya name on the shit that's yours y'know." 

Steve couldn't help but laugh at that, it was ridiculous and entirely endearing. "Buck, ain't no one gonna steal ya from me. I won't let'em." He said with a grin and leaned in to kiss on Bucky's stomach. 

But Bucky had other plans, the right hand shot up and tangled into Steve's hair and pulled until Steve obliged to follow up over Bucky's body and found soft plump lips waiting for his own. The kiss quickly turned deep, greedy and with a lot of sloppy tongue. Bucky always tasted good to Steve, even the hint of cigarette smoke was something Steve enjoyed from Bucky. 

He wouldn't ever smoke himself. He'd been deathly allergic against the smoke of cigarettes when he was still just a scrawny punk in Brooklyn and when he'd realized he wasn't allergic and had gotten to taste one of Bucky's smokes. He'd found it just wasn't his thing. It just made him cough like if he'd got the croup... _again_. But from Bucky's lips or the faint smell that stayed in Bucky's clothes, he liked it. 

Steve groaned appreciatively into the kiss when Bucky began unbuttoning his white shirt that was feeling way too hot and extremely uncomfortable by now. He didn't argue when his shirt was tossed somewhere unseen as they were both too busy sucking lips and he didn't care when Bucky pushed his jeans down one handed. 

Of course kissing and undressing didn't really go hand in hand, not even with their agility. Maybe it was that Being so close with Bucky made Steve a bit stupid or the fact that he was trying to simultaneously fight dominance over Bucky's tongue, kick off his jeans and get Bucky out of his own jeans. Whatever the reason, Steve fell on top of Bucky and knocked his chin against Bucky's metal arm while Bucky with a surprised gasp fell back from the elbow still keeping him upright and smacked his head against the head board.

The tripping and smacking into things made them both crack up. 

Not that either minded the snickering and giggling though as they searched out each others lips once again. Laughter belonged in the bedroom,  _"S'how ya know y've found the right one, when y'can laugh together Stevie."_ Bucky had promised the first time they had accidentally messed up in the bedroom and Steve had nearly left because he'd been so embarrassed.

After that time, they always laughed and giggled in the bedroom. Well, not in the army, if they laughed and giggled while doing it in the army they'd get busted and get blue carded. They probably wouldn't have thrown Captain America to jail, but Steve wasn't certain they'd show the same curtsy when it came to Bucky. 

But they weren't in the army now. They were alone in a very expensive hotel in France and they weren't up to anything actually illegal. 

Steve gasped surprised when Bucky grabbed him by his naked hips and rolled them around in a flurry on the bed. The new position with his back to the bed gave Steve the chance to kick off his pants, underwear and his socks properly from where they hung on his feet, without flailing around like an idiot. Bucky at the same time with a lot more grace and elegance than himself managed to shimmy out of his own clothes and then straddled Steve's hips buck naked. 

He hummed happily and let his fingers stroke up over Bucky's chest and up over his shoulders. Bucky looked different now, more defined, whatever he'd done for seventy years, it hadn't been laying on the lazy side. Then there was the arm of course, the metal attached to Bucky's shoulder. 

Steve knew that Bucky was self conscious about his arm, or about the scars that marred the skin around the metal edges to be more precise. The reason he knew that Bucky was self conscious about it, was due to the fact that Bucky had kept sleeping in t-shirts and kept the shoulder covered. Even if Steve knew for a fact that Bucky hated sleeping with shirts on him, said it felt constricting. He had even complained about it profoundly in the army. 

Steve had only seen the scars that first time after a few days back in the world with Bucky, because he had walked into the bathroom on accident after Bucky had showered. Bucky had been a little bit more relaxed with sleeping without a t-shirt after that, but Steve was fairly sure the scars and the metal arm was the reason their sex life had been lacking lately. 

He realized that Bucky had stilled and was now seated tense over his hips, carefully watching Steve's reaction. Steve went for a small smile even if he felt he could probably go through fire and hell to take down whoever had hurt his Bucky. The arm though, it wasn't ugly, Bucky's scars wasn't ugly, they were part of him and they told how strong the brunet was. 

Reaching his free hand up, he placed it behind Bucky's neck before giving a gentle pull, as if to pull the other into a round of more kisses. But instead his lips went quietly to the seam of flesh and metal, kissing over the scars, the skin, the metal plates. Anything of Bucky that he could possibly reach without moving. 

Bucky tense up for just a moment when he was pulled. But Steve felt him practically melt into the treatment and when he tilted his head just the slightest he could see a tiny adorable smile on Bucky's lips once again. Steve pressed a final kiss on top of the star before he fell back down into the nest of pillows behind him and beamed up at the brunet. 

"It's part of you Buck. I love every part of you equally much. Even if they're metal parts." He promised.

"It ain't exactly pretty Steve... you don' have to..-"

"Buck. I am just happy you are alive. I'm happy you can have two arms even if ya lost one." Steve said but then smiled cheeky. "But we should repaint that star o'yours." 

"We'll make it white and we'll match." Bucky huffed with a chuckle. 

"Now we have to, y'put it in my head." Steve declared with a grin before softening up again. "I'm just happy you wanna still be with me and that you're still alive."

"Always wanna be with ya Stevie. Til' the end of the line."

That made Steve smile happily and when Bucky leaned in for soft slow kisses, they very quickly turned deep and full of  heat. It didn't take very long until they were both moaning and panting, Bucky grinding his hips sinfully down against Steve's, rubbing their leaking erections tightly together. Feverish touches and kisses were delivered all over each other's bodies without aim for whatever they touched as long as it was each other. 

Where the hell Bucky got the grease Steve wasn't sure, but it didn't exactly feel like Vaseline. Not that he cared once Bucky was scissoring two fingers up his ass and himself was scratching angry red marks over Bucky's back and shoulder while moaning like a seasick sailor. Bucky's fingers were so thick up in him, but at the same time so vastly too thin and too small for him to get the satisfaction he sought.

Steve was glad it wasn't a repeat of their first time together like this though. The first time Bucky had fingered him, Steve had nearly screamed at him to stop because he'd been sure that's not what it had been supposed to feel like. But then Bucky had scored just the right spot and the strange feeling had flooded over to the feeling of being on top of the world. 

After that first initial shock of having something up his ass, he'd grown to become addicted to it and to give the feeling back to Bucky. Something that never changed was how Bucky's fingers felt as they thrust into him him, stroking him and knowing just how to crook them to hit- 

"Ah! Buck!" He gasped out and threw his head back. "There, Buck, Buck, Buck!" 

Bucky grinned wolfish over him before leaning in to bite Steve's shoulder while twisting his fingers just right again and picked up a wrecking speed, sweeping Steve's head clean of everything but the feeling of Bucky against his skin and Bucky's fingers moving inside of him. His absolute last resolve was focusing on keeping the tight heat in his abdomen from blooming out and pop his leaking Johnson. 

"Y're lookin' so fuckin' good like this Stevie." Bucky murmured deep and husky by his her. "So ginchy, I jus' wanna lick'ya all over." 

"F... Buck.. Buck, buck, I wan-" Steve managed to pant and gasp out but was stopped by loud moan and his back arching off the bed as a third finger finally breached him. "More. Bucky please, I need more," he begged, "nee you." 

Bucky growled against his neck and sucked a dark hickey there. One that unfortunately would have healed by tomorrow. Sometimes super healing sucked because he would have loved to have all kinds of hickeys and bite marks left from Bucky the very next day. Just like he'd love to see them on Bucky.

Steve whined in protest when the fingers that had been constantly ramming into him and rubbed his sweet spot suddenly slipped out, leaving him feeling empty and aching for Bucky. Not that Bucky was planning on abandoning him, merely shift them around on the bed until Steve had his right leg thrown up over Bucky's shoulder and the other tight around Bucky's hip, ready and eager for more. 

The smirk on Bucky's lips warned him of trouble, but he still happily kissed the brunet when Bucky leaned in for kisses, successfully folding Steve in two by the way Steve's knee was hooked over the metal shoulder. But it was a nice folded over because it took him so close to Bucky. What he hadn't expected was how Bucky's slick fingers wrapped around both their hard on's and began stroking slowly, slicking them both up. 

Steve's moans of pleasure mingled with Bucky's grunts and groans and the slick sound of skin moving with skin and sloppy loud kisses. 

He didn't complain or whine when Bucky pulled away again, because it was only to move so that the tip of Bucky was pressed close to Steve's waiting ass. But he didn't push in yet He waited, brushed soft butterfly kisses over Steve's knee and leg that was still swung up over Bucky's shoulder while looking at Steve with that soft smile on his perfect lips. 

This was something Bucky did. He would always wait for Steve's permission to take it further, no matter how horny he was or how far they had already gone. 

Back in the days when Steve had been a scrawny asthmatic Steve hadn't always been ready for Bucky to get going in him until he'd puffed at least four times on his inhaler. Which meant, Bucky had always had to wait until Steve was coherent enough to say what he needed. When Steve had got the serum, Bucky still would wait, make sure Steve was ready even if Bucky knew he was. 

Steve wrapped his leg tighter around Bucky's middle to tug him closer and pulled Bucky down for a proper kiss on the lips. It was consent enough for them. 

Bucky hummed and slowly, so damn slowly! Bucky pushed into him and the hum turned into a growling moan. Steve's back arched off the mattress and he let out a deep breathy moan of his own when Bucky slid home, and tugged Bucky's shoulders to get the brunet chest to chest with him. It was a bit tricky and after a failed try Bucky helped shifting his leg down carefully to Bucky's hip and Steve wrapped both his legs around Bucky's hips and back tightly and groaned over the perfect angle. 

They kissed while Bucky held entirely still, leaned against his left arm just beside Steve's head. Steve tried to wrap his arms different ways around Bucky and in the end settled for the right one behind his neck and the left one at Bucky's ass. Wherever Steve happened to be, Bucky's ass was a damn nice ass and he always wanted to touch it. 

"Y'ready Stevie?" Bucky murmured where he was currently kissing along the shell of Steve's ear. 

The long tresses of soft brown hair fell into Steve's face, but Steve couldn't care less. The hair smelled like Bucky, everything around him smelled like Bucky because Bucky was buried deep inside of him and mumbling soft little words in his ear. Bucky was there and Bucky was taking him home. For the first time since he lost Bucky on that train, Bucky was finally taking him back home. 

"Stop goofin' around an' get goin before we both turn a hundred." Steve managed to say, even managed to sound cheeky as he pinched Bucky's ass playfully

The pinch made Bucky's hips jerk in surprise and Steve gasped loudly over the sudden movement of Bucky who was still holding still inside him. They both broke out in quiet laughter again and they kept giggling and snickering in between kisses, panting and broken moans as Bucky began to roll his hips and rub their chests tight together. 

With every roll, it turned a bit deeper, a bit more languid. For every thrust Bucky hit that spot in Steve right on and for every movement, Steve's hard on was rubbed in the lube and sweat between his own tight stomach and Bucky's. It made it damn hard for him to keep his control and not popping all at once, and he was quickly loosing himself. Bucky was and had always been a master at pulling Steve straight to that edge and balance him there before pulling him over.

When Bucky picked up the speed but started to loose the pace, Steve came with a loud toe curling cry of Bucky's name. Sticky long ropes shot between them both and Steve tossed his head back to let the white noise of pleasure claim him while Bucky continued his erratic movements until there was a heat flushing deep inside him and he felt himself get filled up to the brim with Bucky's spend.

He should probably think that was disgusting. It wasn't the most comfortable when it began dripping out, but right there, right as it happened... Steve loved it. Steve loved that he could make Bucky come, he'd always been able to make Bucky come, even if he'd been inexperienced and not very good at it when they were younger. Even if he'd been scrawny and not very sexy... Bucky had still thought he was sexy, hot enough to come.

Bucky groaned a last time over him before slowly sliding out of Steve to be able to roll them around. Steve didn't protest when he was dragged up over Bucky's chest, but instead began dotting lazy half asleep kisses against Bucky's collarbone and shoulder. He even went as far as lazily lick at the edge of metal and skin, tasting the salt from their sweat, before he nuzzled up against Bucky's neck. 

"Love you Steve." Bucky murmured softly, eyes closed and a happy smile on his lips.

"Love you too Bucky," Steve mumbled back, "France was a good idea."

"Uh-uh." Bucky just hummed.

It didn't take many minutes for the two soldiers to forget all about cleaning up as they quick and easy slipped into a comfortable sleep.


	11. A day in Paris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky enjoys their vacation by lazy morning activities and visiting museums.

Bucky hadn't had an entire night's worth of sleep since before he was shipped over seas. 

To say that he was surprised when he woke up, not from his customary nightmares but instead due to the sun that was shining him in the eyes... well, surprise had be an understatement of what he felt. And yet, there he was, eyelid heavy as he cracked one eye open, peeking up in a white roof and feeling fully rested for once. Not just his usual, _'_ _I'm up and I'm awake because if I try to do more sleeping the nightmares will claim me'_ sort of rested but actually **rested**.

His body felt comfortable, not too warm, not too cold. There was another source of heat tucked to his left side and when he tilted his head his stubble caught slightly against the soft golden blond tresses of Steve's hair. Steve's head was a comfortable weight over his left pectoral and he could feel Steve's soft puffs of breath against his chest.

For a moment Bucky was confused as to where the hell they were. He knew it was Steve but this wasn't their apartment. But then he remembered the trip to France, their activities from last night. Those activities were something he could still feel as the skin over his stomach and chest was stiff and caked by white patches. They really should have cleaned up before falling asleep yesterday.

And yet... Bucky didn't care. 

They seemed to both have slept through the night, yesterday had been amazing and the arm Bucky had tightly wrapped around Steve's side and middle wasn't itching and pinching from being stuck under the weight of Steve. Most likely because it was made of metal and the only thing Bucky could actually feel in it was pressure. Well, he was thankful he could at least do that, else he had no idea how he was supposed to hold stuff with it. 

Steve's naked leg were tucked in between both Bucky's thighs and Steve's arm was thrown over Bucky's chest, their fingers entwined over Bucky's heart. Maybe they should try to always sleep naked if this was how they'd wake up. It wasn't even about anything sex related. Bucky just found comfort in Steve's touches, they grounded him when he woke up from nightmares and they relaxed him when he was tense. Naked cuddling gave for a lot of touching.

This all reminded him about Brooklyn, if Steve had been a bit smaller and Bucky's arm had been his real one, his hair had been shorter and the bed had been smaller, harder and more uncomfortable... it could have been Brooklyn. Sure, mostly they had slept in their underclothes, but the times after sex they had slept in the nude and Bucky had secretly always enjoyed that a bit more. 

Bucky smiled lazily and placed matching kisses on top of Steve's messy bed hair, it really was poking out all over the place. 

The kisses though, made the blond super soldier start squirming and stirring with small huffs and puffs before he indignant opened his baby blue orbs lazily to give Bucky a half glare. Not that Bucky cared about the little glare, he was too lost in those gorgeous eyes. They weren't like the sky, more like the sea with just the tiniest dash of green in them. It only showed if you stood really close. 

Steve just let out a tiny upset huff at him for the lack of response to his glaring and buried his face against Bucky's neck. Bucky just chuckled quietly and Steve shimmied a little closer to Bucky's side to just lay there, breathing slowly against Bucky's skin. Bucky just relaxed and enjoyed the silent inhales and exhales that Steve was doing against the skin of his neck. 

It wasn't until little butterfly kisses were being dotted over his neck and down on his collarbones that he shifted slightly to get Steve a fraction closer and get himself in a more comfortable position. "G'mornin' doll." He murmured into the blond hair and began delivering kisses of his own.

"What'time issit?" Steve slurred tiredly against his neck. 

"Dunno. Sun's up tho so, 'round seven? Maybe eight." He suggested. He supposed he could have checked his phone, but that meant moving and that wasn't something anyone in their right mind would do when a naked Steve Rogers was curled this close. "Did'ya sleep?" 

"Like Dugan durin' an air raid," was the slurred reply.

Bucky laughed lightly at that. Dugan had once fallen asleep before an air raid and hadn't woken up by either shouting, sirens or the sound of the planes flying over their heads, threatening to drop their explosive load over them all. They had all of course continued teasing the man mercilessly about it, and whenever someone got their share of actual sleep they, reminded each other about the incident. 

Though, Bucky probably shouldn't be the one talking. Back in the good old days, he'd been able to sleep just about anywhere. He'd slept under the car in the garage he'd worked in, in school on his bench, on important meetings, in the field, when Stark went through the newest weapon reports. Gabe had once sworn he'd seen Bucky sleep standing once but Bucky called bullshit.  _He'd just been resting his eyes._

"Yeah, me to," he murmured against Steve's hair, "so whazzit we gonna do today? Stay in bed?"

That idea sounded nice, just not get dressed and cuddle with Steve for the rest of the day. But Steve just chuckled as he wriggled upwards until they could kiss proper lip to lip and tongue kisses. The way Steve's tongue dipped into Bucky's and explored every little part of Bucky's mouth wasn't at all helping with Bucky's morning problem.

Not that Bucky gave a rats ass of care about that, he just grabbed Steve's perfect ass cheeks with both hands and squeezed and pushed until Steve was straddling his hips instead of laying beside him. Steve was hard as well, but clearly he wasn't finished with the deep tongue exploration and Bucky wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere. Besides, Steve didn't taste half bad even if morning breath should be a thing. 

"I wanna go to The Louvre. Before that I wanna have breakfast at a street corner cafe." Steve said as he finally pulled his tongue back, but small kisses was still delivered between words. 

"Gee, so picky Rogers," Bucky murmured against Steve's lips, "We'll find ya the nicest little cafe in all of France if y'wanna Stevie. Anythin' for you." 

Steve hummed a happy little hum before he nuzzled his face back against Bucky's neck and began dotting it with kisses, nips and hickeys. Bucky loved everything about this morning and their daily plans. The way they were for once just being like a normal couple. Because this was what normal couples did, they took a vacation in France, they spent lazy time in bed just kissing and cuddling because of love. They went on dates and saw museums together. They didn't fight aliens or Nazis. 

Not that Bucky minded that they weren't ordinary, god knows Steve and Bucky was never meant to be just any ordinary couple. If they had been, they'd grown bored of each other and probably everything around them. But some days, it was nice to have something that was normal and lazy, something that just charged up their batteries until they were ready to go and find trouble again. 

They spent another hour or so in bed, kissing, cuddling and just being together. Dotting lazy, yet loving kisses all over each others bodies and faces until the kisses developed into very lazy morning sex of rolling hips, sloppy kisses and soft half moans. Not an exercise, but enough to get their blood pumping. Through the entire thing, Bucky couldn't stop marvel over how Steve's skin almost glowed where it was illuminated by the morning sun through their window. 

This, was according to Bucky; The perfect morning.

☆★☆★☆

Steve, for as far as he could remember, was having one of the best days of his life.

To begin with; he'd been allowed to sleep through the entire night without being woken up even once by nightmares. In fact, when he finally was roused from sleep it had been because a very naked Bucky Barnes had been placing soft kisses in his hair. Then they had just laid kissing and cuddling, but that had quickly turned into something more heated, and before either of them knew it, there had been grinding and rolling of hips and they'd had lazy morning sex. 

The morning sex was a new thing for them, back in Brooklyn, Bucky had almost always been in a hurry to work and on Sundays when he was free, there had been church. Steve had been very adamant that they'd attended church because they were constantly sinning by being together so they had needed that church time. Now looking back at what he could have had every Sunday... well... let's just say, he intended lazy morning sex happen again. 

After their lazy morning, they had shared more kisses in the shower before they left the hotel. They hadn't found any street corner cafe they'd liked but they did find a nice place with a view over a canal. The food had been absolutely great but the coffee had been terrible. They had stayed anyway because Bucky had enjoyed his frappuchino or what the hell he now called those crazy drinks Steve refused to accept as coffee.

Also, Bucky had laughed. Bucky had made  _him_ laugh.

It had been so relaxing, to just sit there goof around and laugh at old jokes that most likely made both of them sound as if they were a hundred years old for the people around them who accidentally over heard them. Of course, they kind of  **were** like a hundred years old and the last time Steve had been in France there had been angry Nazis all over the place. 

After their breakfast Bucky took him to the Louvre and Steve was entirely blown away. 

All the art at that museum was something that Steve could probably spend hour upon hour, day after day for at least an entire month before he'd even seen everything he wanted to see. He was fairly certain he'd spent at least forty five minutes just staring at Mona Lisa. He'd been so engrossed in the way Leonardo Da Vinci must have used his brushes and his paint that he'd lost track of time. 

Of course, bringing Bucky to an art museum was a bit like bringing a kid to a board meeting. They'd do their best not to show how incredibly bored they were by sitting on their hands, but at the same time they'd be tapping their feet to the floor just to get something to do. 

Bucky had done one hell of a good job to act as if this wasn't the most boring thing in his life, but then Steve had caught Bucky having a staring contest with an eight year old kid. At first he just let it be and kept watching art, if he let Bucky amuse himself with a harmless staring competition there wouldn't be any trouble.

But when the staring contest turned into a _making the silliest face_ competition and Bucky clearly had clearly decided that he was the one who'd win this war, Steve decided it was time to step in before they got kicked out or something.

"Y'havin fun Buck?" He asked with a smile and wrapped his arm around Bucky's waist. "Y'like the art?" 

So, maybe he was a little shit for saying that with a straight face, pretending he didn't have a clue that Bucky was bored out of his minds. He knew Bucky would do anything to make Steve happy, including pretending that the things he thought were incredibly boring, was actually a lot of fun. When they'd been kids, Steve hadn't noticed it. When they got older, Steve had found it endearing. 

Bucky jumped a little startled, quickly shifting from expressions from  _'getting caught'_ to a really good faked  _'interested' ,_ hadn't Steve already known, he might have fallen for it. But right now he knew all about Bucky's faces and expressions better than he knew his own and he had seen the little contest between his adult boyfriend and the kid. 

"Yeah. S'uhh... a lott'a art." Bucky said and leaned his head against Steve's shoulder and looked at the painting Steve had just been looking at. 

"So, did ya win over the kid?" Steve asked with a little laugh. "And how boring are you having?" 

"Oh god! So boring Steve... Christ! I love your stuff, that's great. But this? Shit I think I'll fall asleep standing." Bucky complained unhappily. 

"You love my stuff because I make you comic strips." 

"Y'draw other stuff too and that ain't boring." 

"S'cause y're a sap for me Bucks." Steve informed with a grin. 

Bucky just laughed lightly and pushed at Steve's shoulder for that comment. The thing with Bucky loving Steve's art was most likely because Steve sketched what was around them. He'd sketch the little playground back in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn bridge. He'd sketch the kids down the street, he'd sketch his ma, he'd sketch endless of papers full of Bucky or he'd sketch silly little things forBucky. 

Staring at old dames that Bucky had never met or known because they'd been dead hundreds of years before either of them were even born, simply  wasn't Bucky's strong suit. When it was close to home, stuff Bucky could relate to, that's when the brunet enjoyed it. Or when it was comics, imaginary world filled of science fiction. That was Bucky's thing when it came to art. 

When Bucky had gone out for fun, it had been dancing, drinking and socializing. He'd loved dragging Steve out on double dates just so the two of them could pretend the date was only theirs in a time it had been forbidden. For fun, Bucky went to the movies, watched cartoons and bought comics. For fun, Bucky had spent time with Stark in his makeshift labs in the war and teased Steve playfully about the Captain America comics.

Art museums had never been on Bucky's fun list.

"C'me on soldier. Let's get gone with the wind." Steve said and pecked Bucky's cheek. 

After New York, Steve had decided not to hold back anymore. Anyone could see them and he didn't care, him and Bucky had been given another chance when they should both be dead. Steve wasn't Stupid enough not to realize exactly what kind of gift that was and he refused to look a gift horse in the mouth. They were together and he wanted them to be together all the ways they hadn't been able to before. 

"Oh yeah? Where we goin' sugar?" Bucky asked with a happy smile on his lips.

"You'll see." 

Bucky gave up a quiet laugh but didn't ask any more questions. He probably trusted Steve not to lead them into too much trouble, or possibly confident enough that whatever trouble Steve walked them both into, Bucky'd be able to get them out of. It was how it had always been, Steve got into trouble and Bucky tugged him back out of it. 

When he'd woken up from the ice and Bucky had taught him how to google, he'd been surprised to find how much of a saint the history had made him out to be. Reading about himself made him think about some kind of guy that never did anything wrong and that always did the right thing. There was a few accounts from the howling commandos telling about a more accurate picture of Steve Rogers.

The one that had been most spot on had been an interview with Mrs Barnes shortly after the war. She'd called him and Bucky pranksters with the heart on the right place. There was one thing that had stayed with Steve from that interview, something that both filled him with a warmth and shattered his heart into little pieces.

_"_ _Steve Rogers was a good boy. I didn't just lose one son in this war, I lost two. But I suppose God understood it would be cruel to break them both apart."_  

Later on Bucky had told him that a few of the commandos were still alive, that Bucky's siblings was still alive and that Peggy was still alive. They were old, life had passed them, but they were still alive. Him and Bucky would go and visit them all when their little trip was done. Neither of them had been in the right state of mind after New York to go visit anyone, they really needed this time for themselves. 

"Steve! Where are we even going?" Bucky laughed out as Steve dragged him out of the museum by his metal hand. 

"Y'll see, Buck." Steve just laughed in reply. 

"We're in France an' we both left our phones at the hotel brainchild. How ya even know where we're going?" Bucky asked, still with a grin and an amused smile.

Steve just laughed happily as he dragged Bucky over the street in a quick pace. He knew exactly what he wanted to do rest of the day but he needed to get them some supplies first. They didn't need their phones to find their way to the closest hardware store, if they couldn't find it on their own, Steve still knew the French he'd learned during the war. 

It took them roughly half an hour and the asking of five different people until Steve finally found the store. Bucky looked at him entirely unimpressed but with a small smirk tugging at his lips. He'd just dragged Bucky halfway across the city just to get them to a hardware store. Steve wished he'd be able to be in Bucky's head right now to find out what he was thinking. 

"Steve, this is a hardware store." Bucky informed him playfully. "Y'know, not the kinda place y'bring a date."

"I know, we're just making a stop, then we're going back to the hotel." 

"You gonna draw me Stevie? Like one of ya French girls?" 

"I understood that reference. And I still didn't like that movie." 

Bucky laughed at him and Steve frowned for a moment before smiling again and dragged Bucky into the store. Steve simply didn't like Titanic because he didn't like the end, Rose and Jack should have shared that board and they should have both seen the world together. Okay, maybe that movie had hit a little bit too close to home for Steve to be able to remain neutral about it.

After some navigating around in the store Steve had gathered a bunch of brushes he'd liked and put them in Bucky's free hand for the other to carry. He could have carried his supplies himself, but that would have meant letting Bucky's hand go while looking for the other things and he wasn't very keen on doing that. It was easier to just give them to Bucky. 

"Think sketchpads and canvas are the other way Stevie." Bucky said with a fond smile. 

"Don't need one." Steve just hummed and stopped by the paint and began looking for the right ones. "Already got the perfect canvas." 

Steve grabbed a small tin with white paint that stuck on metal surfaces. He quickly nabbed a red and a blue one as well, making sure it was the right shades. Bucky leaned his head against Steve's shoulder while he stood there picking out the right shades before there was a small laugh from Bucky. Steve grinned because finally Bucky had read what kind of paints these were. 

"Steven Grant Rogers! Do you intend to paint at my poor prosthetic arm?" Bucky scolded him playfully. 

Steve made sure to shoot Bucky a very cute smile before proudly replying: "Y'ain't no Soviet prisoner Buck. The red star ain't fittin' on you and I happen to know exactly what to put there instead." 

Steve remembered the blue jacket, _how couldn't he? It had been Bucky's favorite jacket and also the jacket he'd fallen in_. But that wasn't the important part, the important part was that out of all the commandos, Bucky's jacket had been the only one to match with Steve. The wings on Bucky's left jacket sleeve had been the same as the ones on Steve's helmet. He missed matching with Bucky and the red star wasn't a good trade. 

He didn't know what the red star stood for on Bucky's arm, neither did Bucky. But the only thing Steve could think about was the red star Soviet had put on everything that they saw as their property. Even if the Soviet union didn't exist anymore, Steve didn't like to think that Bucky in any kind of way was property to them, so, he intended to change the star. 

"Y're gonna put a shield on my shoulder aren't ya?" Bucky asked with a wide smile. 

"Yeaaah, y'mind? I don't like the star." 

"Nah, I don't like it either. C'me on, let's go pay'n paint my arm."

Yeah, that sounded like a good way to spend their afternoon, almost as good as how they had spent their morning. 


	12. Painful secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky return from their vacation and Tony has some news for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for lateness! I have had it done for some days but I forgot to post it! I'm so sorry *hands out cookies as an apology*

"So, what do you think?" Tony asked as he motioned for the shiny new arm made of pure vibranium currently laying on the desk beside them. "If you ask me,  _which technically you are,_ it's hell of a lot better than that chunk of metal you are having right there. This one is nearly indestructible and it will fit a lot better in proportion to your shoulder and body type." 

Bucky's and Steve's vacation had been cut short only three days in on their trip to France. The news of the happenings in New York had spread like a wildfire and the news had practically exploded with articles and pictures of the avengers, and pretty much the entire world was on the lookout for the heroes. Which meant that even if Bucky and Steve wore hoodies, sunglasses and caps, people would still recognize them.

Of course when it came to Bucky and Steve, they were both taller and broader than most people around. The only one who could compete with their body mass who'm they had met were Thor and Thor wasn't even from earth. In fact Thor wasn't even **on** earth right now. He'd taken Loki back to Asgard to be put in an Asgardian prison.

Anyhow, when the papers had started showing their picture all over France the two of them had decided that it was about time that they went back home.

Not that either of them had minded the end of their trip though. They had done the things they had wanted to do, Steve had got to see his fancy art museum and seen the lady without eyebrows, they had visited the Eiffel tower and they had eaten great food at really nice cafe's and restaurants.

Besides, at home they had all of Bucky's movies and his xbox. Bucky was determined that he would corrupt his boyfriends mind by making him play through the entirety of the assassins creed series. A game that Bucky had mastered as soon as he'd tried it out. He supposed it came from being a sniper and sneaking around unseen and sneak kills had sort of been his thing back in the war. 

Bucky  and Steve  had easily fallen into a routine as time passed around them. They slept a little bit better, having figured out that the less clothes they wore the more hours of sleep did they'd get. Steve still got up in she shit crack of fucking dawn and since Bucky refused to get out of bed until at least the sun was high on the sky, Steve had taken up running in the mornings. 

Steve would be back when the sun was up and they'd have a shower together. Coffee and breakfast was next, Bucky would scroll on his phone, update his twitter with a breakfast picture now and then, and Steve would read the papers. The blond wouldn't read them in his phone like a normal person though, he'd read the actual papers like he had back in the thirties. 

It was such an fuddy-duddy thing to do, and Bucky fucking adored it.

Right now though, Bucky was sitting on an office chair while Tony was digging around in his metal arm trying to figure out how it was attached. Bucky's original plan had been to take Steve out for ice cream because it was a nice day, but Tony had called and told them that Bucky's new arm was done. How the hell Stark had managed to finished it only two weeks after the attack of New York, Bucky wasn't sure, nor did he want to know.

"What I think Tony... is that in two weeks you've built something that should'a taken at least six months to complete. Did you even sleep?" Bucky asked concerned. 

"I sleep." Tony brushed off absentmindedly as he looked back in the arm and kept trying to get the plates to open. "Is this thing even designed to come off?" 

"I don't know." Bucky said and frowned slightly at the inventor. "New York was you first battle and you nearly died. Y'talked to anyone about it? I ain't gonna bust your chops on nothin' but... that shit's always rough on ya head." 

"I don't need to talk to anyone robocop, I'm fine."

"You made that first suit after Afghanistan. How many more have y'made?" 

Tony twitched at that and the screwdriver he'd held clattered to the floor. "Will you let it go?!" he snapped. "I, am perfectly fine, nothing is wrong with me." 

"Look I ain't wanna be behind the eight ball with ya Tony. Just sayin' PTSD is shit and y'ain't alone nor will it just go away by sayin' y're fine. Y'need to talk? Y'have my number." 

They sat in silence after that for a while. Tony didn't even lean in to pick up his dropped screwdriver but instead stared at bucky's arm as if he was trying to will it to open up for him. Bucky  had seen Tony's files, the ones about Afghanistan, Obadiah, and the more he learned about Tony, the more he realized the guy didn't seem to get help or talk about it even with his friends. 

"I can't sleep" Tony finally said with a sigh. "I can't stop thinking about... how to protect people from-" Tony cursed loudly and motioned his hand towards the window. "Everything. What if there's a new attack with aliens, what if there's something else? I need to make the suits compatible with every situation because I need to keep them all safe. People tell me to stop tinkering but... I don't want to, when I do..." Tony's voice fell flat. 

"The thought's catch up." Bucky supplied. "You tinker and for a moment the bad business in ya head shut's it's goddamn mouth." 

"Yeah, that's... yes." Tony sighed out and leaned back on his chair. "They keep reminding me I'm a public face and I can't just tinker all the time. You know, meetings to go to, places to be seen at."

"The way I cope... the shit that keeps me goin'. It's Steve. Before he woke up... I don't know how many times I'd side glanced one o'my guns. Didn't want to keep it on. The war was jus' some days away, falling off the train was just some days away, talking to a shrink didn't help cause for some reason, I can't handle the thought of someone try'n poke 'round in my head. With Steve... well, he's home." 

"Well, I don't really have anyone that I can just-" 

"Bruce." 

Tony stared at him gobsmacked as if Bucky had just told him everything he'd ever believed in was wrong and Bucky just smiled playfully. Bucky had always been able to pick up on a person with a crush from a mile away, and really, Tony wasn't very subtle about it. Sure, Tony always flirted and was the way he was to pretty much every one, but with Bruce, it was a bit more than what seemed to be Tony's usual. 

"How did you even..."

"The way act, move and talk around him is different from how you do with anyone else." 

"That's.... you can't tell him." 

"I won't. But **you** might want to." 

They fell into an easy silence after that. Tony kept trying to get in under the plates of the arm while deep in thought and Bucky was entertaining himself by playing games on his phone with his free hand. Not even twenty minutes later Steve and Bruce returned with a ridiculous amount of food. But then again, Bucky and Steve ate a ridiculous amount of food these days.

Since Bucky for the moment was the one armed bandit, Steve made sure to feed Bucky his sushi piece by piece. Tony officially declared them disgusting when Steve leaned in for a kiss after every roll and Bucky took a selfie of them. Sometimes he wished he could put everything out on his instagram, but they weren't ready for that yet.

Steve had gotten real good with the whole public displays and not just kiss in the safety of their apartment. Steve could sometimes even initiate the kissing or hand holding even if there was people around and Bucky loved it. It was like a big  _'he's mine'_ stamp that kept people from trying to steal his Stevie. Not that Bucky was actually worried anyone could steal Steve from him though, but neither did he encourage people to try. 

"Whoever made you this arm is a sadist." Tony finally snapped in annoyance. "There are no ways to open it, the plates are solid and if it ever broke, the plan was most likely to replace the whole damn thing, and to do that... it'll be at least several hours of surgery and even with your crazy super healing you'll be in pain for days."

"So? I'm always in pain, I think I can handle it." Bucky said with a simple shrug. 

He sighed when all three sets of eyes were suddenly glued on him and Bruce even stopped reading whatever it was he was reading on his tablet. Steve looked outright shocked at the revelation. Not that Bucky understood why, he had a chunk of metal posing as his arm stuck to his left shoulder that he could use just like a normal arm. The pain had simply always been a price he was willing to pay and he had just assumed people had guessed it wasn't very comfortable.

"Buck.... does it hurt?" Steve asked and swallowed tightly, "all the time?" 

"Yeah, kinda, I mean, y'kinda stop thinkin'bout it after a time y'know?" 

"James, that's not... it's not the normal that prosthetic's hurt. We would have done something earlier had we known." Bruce said seriously. 

"If the new one cause pain, you have to tell us because then something is obviously wrong." Tony added with an agreeing nod and a frown. 

"I mean, I just figured it was normal. It ain't like gettin' shot or nothing." 

 "Bucky!" Steve exclaimed and flailed his hands around a little.

"Steve!" Bucky mimicked back. "S'okay. Really, it's godda have hurt worse loosin' it in the first place."

Steve frowned at him and Bucky sighed knowing he hadn't heard the last of this discussion. He was just thankful Steve didn't start chewing him out right away.

Bucky did try to protest the surgery to swap his arm to take place the day after tomorrow. He'd have wanted a bit longer to preparehimself and just get it into his minds that there would be a massive change in his persona before actually doing anything. But Steve gave him a dangerously dark look and Bucky just sighed as he accepted the offer.

☆★☆★☆

Steve just couldn't believe Bucky hadn't told him about being in constant pain. He also couldn't believe he himself hadn't noticed before that Bucky was in constant pain. He was Bucky's oldest goddamn friend, how hadn't he noticed the other's pain?

He let out a noise of frustration as he kept pacing angrily back and forth in the apartment Tony had given them. It was apparently not just for this one time, but for whenever they felt like spending some time in New York for some reason. Meaning that the apartment now belonged to them and they got to do whatever the hell they wanted in it.

The apartment was a lot larger than their apartment in D.C and a lot more modernized and expensive looking. If Steve had been in a better mood he'd have appreciated the view they had over New York from his window. But as it was now, he was too goddamn worked up to care about anything other than what was spinning rapidly in his head. 

Bucky had retreated to the bathroom the moment they'd gotten there. Which was about an hour ago and the only sound in the apartment came the water from the shower. Steve hadn't joined him because they both needed time to think and some space from each other. 

He sighed loudly and leaned his arm to the window then dropped his head heavily against his arms and closed his eyes while trying to breath calmly. His chest felt heavy and tight, a bit like when he'd had asthma before the serum. He began breathing in and out slow and calm, just like he would have done when he was hit by an attack back in the days and he couldn't get a hold of his inhaler. 

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, but he was thankful when suddenly there was an arm wrapping around his middle and a soft kiss was planted against his shoulder. The damp brush of hair against his neck was grounding and his breathing didn't feel as hard anymore.

"Breath Stevie." Bucky's soft voice mumbled to his shoulder.

Steve wasn't even angry anymore. He wasn't even sure he'd ever been angry. He was a bit hurt Bucky hadn't told him, but mostly he was just tired and wanted so badly to just melt into Bucky's touch and vanish in the feeling of safety. Steve wanted to close his eyes and when he'd open them, he'd find himself in their bed in Brooklyn and Bucky would be cursing loudly while stumbling around in their room, looking for clothes since he was late to work. 

"Why didn't you..." Steve begun quietly, breath fogging the glass in front of him. 

"I didn't tell ya cause I ain't wantin'ya to walk on glass 'round my arm." Bucky sighed against his shoulder. "People look at my arm an' they gimme these petty looks and it's drivin' me fucking bananas. Y're the only one who doesn't wince or dance 'round the subject. Y'act as if my arm's an arm and it ain't no nothin' that's wrong with it."

"Buck... I wouldn't have..." 

"Wouldn't you? If you knew that every second of my life was painful cause my arm hurt. Y'tryina tell me ya wouldn't have looked at it differently?" 

Steve couldn't even answer that because he knew that Bucky was right. He'd have hated the damn thing strapped to Bucky's shoulder and it really hadn't been what Bucky needed from him. Clearly Bucky preferred a life in pain as long as he had a left arm and Steve was an complete ass for doing anything but accept Bucky's decisions. 

"I'm sorry Buck... I just... the thought of you being in pain..." 

He turned around to face Bucky, who'm in turn easily pushed closer for a tight hug. Steve wrapped his arms protectively  around Bucky and held him close. Nothing and no one would ever get to hurt his Bucky ever again.He just wished he hadn't been too late to save Bucky the first time. He wished he'd been able to just reach him at the train and none of this would have happened. 

Of course, a quiet voice in the back of his mind reminded him that if none of this had happened, he'd never had gotten his Buck back. Bucky would have lived out his life, probably married some doll and he'd have been old or dead by now. Steve might be selfish for thinking this way, but he was happy Bucky was there with him, young like the day Steve'd lost him. 

When Bucky leaned in for a kiss, Steve quickly replied with one of his own, hoping that it'd it show exactly how much he loved and cared for his boyfriend. In return he was allowed to just drown his senses in Bucky's taste, smell and the feel of Bucky's body so close to his own where they stood. Of course, that's also when he realized Bucky was very much shirtless. 

"Y'don' have a shirt." He mumbled against Bucky's lips after the kiss. 

"Nope, was gonna invite ya to shirtless cuddles on the couch while we watch the next Star Wars movie. We're on the fourth one and it's a real good one." 

"They killed of my favorite character." Steve huffed out in complaint. 

"That was two movies ago punk!" Bucky laughed as he pushed Steve away with a cheeky grin on his lips. "C'me on, y'll love Han Solo as much as ya loved Qui-Gon." He promised. 

Steve wasn't really sure he believed him, but when Bucky sauntered off to the couch and just flopped down on his back with a cheeky grin and held his hand out, Steve didn't really care. He peeled off his tight t-shirt and tossed it on the floor before padding over to the brunet.

Their dog tags clinked together as Steve climbed down on the couch and laid down on top of Bucky. Bucky didn't complain about his weight and just stroke soft lazy circles on Steve's back while Steve made himself comfortable over Bucky's chest. He ended up with his head tucked against Buck's shoulder and nuzzled his face against Bucky's neck. Legs tangled together and for a moment he just felt comfortably small again. 

"Love ya Buck." He mumbled with a happy sigh when Bucky started up the movie. 

"Love y'too Stevie." was the soft earnest reply. "To the end of the line."

"To the end of the line." Steve agreed fondly.


	13. One missing soldier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky goes missing from the infirmary ward and the avengers has to find him. That proves more difficult than it sound since Jarvis won't let anyone know where the sergeant has gone off to.

The surgery of Bucky's arm had gone fine.

In fact it might have gone a bit too fine, because the very next day Bucky had managed to escaped the tower's hospital room that he'd spent the night in, unseen. Important that it was noted that,  _escaped,_  was very much being the key word in this case since Bucky hadn't been officially or unofficially allowed to leave until Tony or Bruce themselves had OK'd it.

The two men had wanted Bucky to stay in the ward and perform a couple of tests to make sure there were no complications with either the arm of Bucky's head. They had, after all as Tony so eloquently put it _'hot wired his brain'_ to trick it into believing that the metal arm was indeed his real arm.

Bruce had explained to Bucky and Steve before the operation that this arm would have a faster and easier connection with Bucky's brain. That in turn would hopefully make it so Bucky wouldn't feel too much of a difference between how he moved his flesh arm and the metal one. There would be more moving parts inside the arm to act both as the use of regular muscles, but also for easier maintenance.

When Bucky had woken up after the surgery, he'd been in pain and they had given him some really heavy painkillers that put him right to sleep. Steve had stayed by Bucky's side all night, _literary by his side_ , since around midnight he'd crammed himself down on the hospital bed on Bucky's right side. The most damn comfortable hospital bed Steve had ever been in, and he'd been in a few.

When the morning  had come, Bucky had complained loudly when Steve had gotten up to go for his daily run. But after a few kisses and the promise that Steve would bring Bucky a coffee, the brunet had been back to mostly asleep.

However, when Steve came back from his run, there was a furious nurse in Bucky's room, a nurse who'm was loudly chewing out a security personal for his lack of observation. What Steve did't find in Bucky's room, was a certain soldier with a metal arm. Bucky's bed was empty and Steve felt his stomach knot up in worry over the lack of his boyfriend. 

"What's goin' on? Where's Bucky?" He asked the angry brunette nurse, hoping his voice wasn't as full of worry as it sounded like. 

If looks could kill, he'd be dead because of the nurse's intense glare at him. "Mr Barnes has managed to leave the ward without anyone noticing it!" She snapped at him furiously. As if this was all Steve's fault or something for not stopping Bucky from leaving when Steve in fact hadn't even been around to see the brunet leave.

But, Steve supposed he was a little bit guilty. For one, he should have known Bucky had been way too compliant for a guy who usually complained loudly whenever he was told to stay in bed longer than he wanted. For two, Steve should probably have stayed around Bucky this morning instead of going for a run, to make sure he was fine. He'd just assumed Bucky was okay because he'd acted so normal.

"Uhm... have you asked Jarvis? Doesn't he know where everyone-" He begun but was cut short. 

"As if I haven't tried! You sir must think me stupid! Fifteen years and never once have I lost a patient from my watch! Jarvis, tell Mr Rogers where Mr Barnes is." The woman said, voice practically vibrating of anger and agitation.

"Sergeant Barnes is not available for the moment ma'am. But if you so kindly leave your name and your number he will give you a call once he is." The AI said, Steve swore that was sass. Also something Bucky was more likely to say than Jarvis. 

How the hell Bucky had been able to get into cahoots with Tony Stark's very British, bodiless butler though... well, Steve would probably never know. He wasn't very surprised though. Bucky'd be able to talk mostly anyone under the table and would probably have made an excellent politician if he'd had the patience for it. But unfortunately when it came to sitting still and be patient, Bucky'd had only barely enough to fit a thimble.

With a few quick promising words that this was in no way either the nurse's or the security staff's fault, Steve quickly headed off to find Tony and Bruce.

There had been a lot of cursing and complaining from Tony when they found out that Bucky's message through Jarvis applied for Tony just as for anyone else. Natasha and Clint had been so intrigued by everything Bucky had managed to accomplish so they decided to help the search. The five of them had all split up to find Steve's fugitive boyfriend and Jarvis had let them know that Bucky  at least was still in the tower but didn't even tell them on what floor.

Had Steve not heard Bucky's silly message he'd have been worried sick about Bucky's with this sudden disappearance. But when Tony told Jarvis to tell everyone in the tower to keep their eyes out for the brunet with a metal arm, there had been a beep on Steve's phone. Bucky had sent a quick text of  _'see ya soon doll. Love you'_ and if Bucky was coherent enough to send a text, then he was fine. 

But, Steve also happened to know that Bucky was a slight bit annoyed over being pushed into the surgery of his arm so quickly. Not that Steve was sorry about pushing Bucky into it, the other arm had caused Bucky pain. But Steve knew what happened when Bucky go his feathers got ruffled. Prank wars began. 

Unlike innocent prank wars between regular people, Bucky's and Steve's prank wars involved everyone. Like, laxatives in Howard's coffee, cigarettes exchanged with a frog, itching powder in Dugan's hats and five spiders tucked into an envelope and pushed in under their annoying neighbors door. Bucky usually started these things and Steve couldn't ever resist retaliation. And that's the reason as to why Peggy had found Gabriel hanging upside down from a tree by his ankles while Steve and Bucky was howling of laughter on the ground in the middle of the war. 

Because even if the prank wars always started up against each other, it  **always** ended up with the two of them teaming up against the rest of the world. It was ridiculous and nothing Captain America and his closest guy should ever be seen doing he supposed... but it was also fun and had always made the two of them laugh. Even if they were in the midst of war, even if Steve was deathly sick, even if they had got hurt. Pranks made them both laugh again. 

But surprisingly against all of Steve's suspicions, Bucky was not up to a massive prank war. In fact thirty minutes later Steve found him in the common living room, in the top floors, having a cup of Joe with miss Potts. When Steve walked in, it was during a conversation about the layout of the interior of the apartment that Tony had given them here at the tower for them to use as they wished. 

"S'just really... I mean, s'nice n'all. Don' gemme wrong. S'jus' a bit..." 

"Modern." Pepper supplied with a friendly smile. 

"Yes! Christ! The coffee maker actually fucking talked to me yesterday. I grew up durin' the depression dolly, we could barely even  **afford** coffee." 

"Language." Steve said as he walked over to them but smiled friendly at the strawberry blond. "Miss Potts. Bucky ain't bein' an ass is he?"

"Pepper will be fine thank you, Steve." She said with a cheeky little smile. Steve could see why Tony liked her around. "And he is being perfectly polite. Come and join us? And I will make sure your apartment is less talkative." She assured.

"Appreciate it, I mean, the fancy TV and that shit's nice but... when ya kitchen knows how to sass ya, it get's a bit much. I've already got Steve to sass me." 

Steve chuckled lightly at that as he sank down beside Bucky on the couch. That their kitchen was a bit much was the understatement of the year. Yesterday Bucky had tried to make himself a normal cup'o'Joe and the coffee machine had informed Bucky that the amount of sugar he used in his coffee was not the norm. Bucky had freaked out over being talked to and had spilled coffee all over the place.

Steve had admittedly thought that it was kind of nice that he wasn't the only one that got freaked out by all the new stuff. It was a reminder that Bucky was as old as himself and had most likely been as green as Steve was now with these new things when he'd woken up. 

"I only sass ya when ya deserve it." He mumbled and kissed Bucky's cheek carefully. "Which is always."

He had sat down on Bucky's left side on purpose, wanting to have a proper look at the arm. Sure he had seen it after the operation, but Bucky had been mostly asleep and Steve hadn't wanted to bother him so he'd just kept to Bucky's right side.

But now there was time, so Steve slipped his own fingers in between Bucky's, gently slotting them together and smiled as Bucky easily curled the metal fingers around Steve's. The arm looked a lot like the old one, a bit more shiny and less scratched perhaps and there was no red star peeking out from under the white paint Steve had temporarily painted over it in France.

Instead Bucky and Tony must have agreed on making an exact replica on the shield Steve had painted there before. But there was the addition of the neat letters S.G.R. Steve easily recognized the letters as both his own initials and his own handwriting. Not that Steve had written it down for them, they must have pulled it from somewhere else. 

"Buck... are those my initials on your arm?" He asked arching a brow and leaned closer. 

"Yup!" Bucky replied with a cheeky grin. 

"Why are my initials on your arm?"

"Cause I'm yours, baby doll. Jus' helpin ya mark out I'm rationed to a sexy blond." 

Steve blushed bright red at Bucky's flirty voice and the fact that Bucky had practically tattooed Steve's name on his arm. He was fairly certain that chroming something into the metal arm was like tattooing his real arm. He'd already known Bucky loved him of course but... this was the real thing, the thing where Bucky showed everyone in the world who he was together with. The thing they hadn't been able to have back in the days but that was open for them now.

He heard Pepper give up a small laugh from the other couch and even if she choked it down behind her cup, Steve swore he could hear her mumble _'adorable'_ under her breath. That of course didn't help Steve's blush at all, in fact it probably made it even worse and Steve wished he'd be able to melt through the floor so he could hide out for another seventy years of pure embarrassment. 

He wasn't sure what was the worst, that Bucky had done it, or that Steve loved that Bucky had done it. He knew that the letters were only there because Bucky had asked for them,  it wasn't just something Tony would put on there for the fun of it. If it had been Tony just slapping some letters on there it'd probably  more likely be something like  _Stark Industries._

Maybe he should get a matching tattoo? Bucky's initials on his own shoulder, that way no one would be able to miss that they were dating. He wondered if he could even get tattoos or if the serum would just heal it away at once. It was worth a try, couldn't hurt more than the serum had anyway. 

"Sergeant Barnes. My protocols are threatened to be overridden if I keep giving your message, sir." Jarvis voice suddenly informed them. 

"Oh shit, Sorry Jarv, jus' leddem know we're here. I'm done anyway." Bucky said cheery. 

"How did you talk Jarvis into doing that anyway?" Pepper asked curiously. 

"I'm good at talking." Bucky said with a laugh and Steve smiled amused.

"He's always been good addit. Out-talked anyone really back in the days. Including Howard. No one never knew how he did it." 

"Hey, I'm good lookin', great hair get ya everywhere, jus'sayin."

"Oh yeah, that's what I like'bout ya Buck. Just ya hair." Steve teased him playfully. "How's ya arm?" 

"Knew it." Bucky said with that cheeky easy going smile. "Arm's good, easier to move, takes less effort. Think the plates move a lot more than the other or somethin cause it feel kinda like the real arm and the muscles movin'."

Steve lifted Bucky's hand gently, and Buck was right, there was small shifts both in the plates and something moving inside the arm. Tony and Bruce must have worked really hard on it and he had to remember saying a proper thank you to them. But right now, Steve just smiled fondly and pulled the hand all the way up to his lips and placed a small kiss on the back of the metal hand. 

"You two makes me nauseous. Also didn't I specifically tell you not to leave the med bay until we made sure everything was fine?" Tony asked as he walked into the room, followed by Bruce, Clint and Natasha. 

"Hospitals make me itchy. Ask SHIELD, they got all pissy on me when I played jailbreak on the third day after I'd woken up." Bucky said cheery. 

Clint barked out a laugh at that. "Yeah, I heard about that, also heard they found you in the closest Starbucks thirty minutes later." The archer said with a grin as he dropped down on an arm chair. 

"Hey, the doll made me a free caramel frappuchino with extra cream an' toppin' cause I tol' her I was a war vet when she asked by my fancy arm." 

Steve smiled at that and shook his head in amusement. At least he wasn't the only one that had woken up and gone with the wind within the first week. Sure Bucky had stayed around for a couple of days at least before he'd decided to head off. To his own defense though, Bucky had been allowed to wake up in a regular hospital room instead of a fake forties room that didn't make sense.

Not that Steve at all regretted his decision to run though. If Bucky had been the one to sit by his bed that day, Steve'd just figured that they were both dead. The sting of asphalt and the heavy weight of Bucky's massive form pressing him to the ground had a very grounding way of telling him that they both were very much alive, real and not just something his imagination had cooked up. 

"Okay, move over Capcicle, I need to check out my handiwork and do some tests." Tony stated as he moved over. "Robocop, shirt off." 

Steve and Bucky both let out dramatic sighs, but easily swapped places and Bucky slipped his t-shirt over his head and dropped it in Steve's lap for safekeeping. Pepper and Natasha was having a conversation on the other couch and Bruce sat in another armchair sipping a cup of tea. Steve just leaned back and quietly watched the rest of the people in the room. 

He noticed how Pepper's eyes subtly would go to Bucky now and then. Not really surprising since Bucky for one was and had always been a very good looking guy that the dolls hadn't been able to keep their hands off. Secondly Bucky had a metal arm with angry but healing wounds and a bunch of scars all around the left shoulder where the skin turned metal. Thirdly... well, it was hard not to look at Bucky since he was the most interesting thing that happened in the room right now.

Everyone was at least slightly subtle about their staring, except for Tony who was in fact working on the arm and Clint who was just openly staring. Steve pressed aside his jealousy by shifting slightly so his left leg was touching Buck's right one. The movement made Bucky smile even if he wasn't looking at Steve and within seconds Bucky's free hand found Steve's and laced their fingers together. 

But again, none of that was very strange, what was strange though was when Natasha mumbled something in what Steve guessed must be Russian under her breath and Bucky snorted amused at it. Steve hadn't been the only one that snapped his head up to look at Bucky over that. Bucky just smiled a tiny smile and shrugged.

"Didn't know ya knew Russian, Buck." Steve said, arching his brow. 

"Can't really speak it, understand most of it though. Ain't just Russian, got Spanish, Italian, German and a bunch'o others too. Just understood'em as good as I understood English when I woke up. Can't remember learnin' any of'em so I can't talk'em, except for the French since Gabriel taught us back in the war."

"You were some kind of secret agent or a spy or something the latest seventy years weren't you?" Tony asked suspiciously. 

"Until he got too dangerous and they had to take his memories!" Clint quickly added with a grin. "Like in that, born identity or long kiss goodnight movies. Aren't those about that?"

Both Bucky and Steve broke out in laughter over that image. Sure Bucky could be sneaky, but more often than not had Bucky tripped over their coffee table back in Brooklyn. Steve remembered when Bucky had fallen over his own shoes in their narrow entrance, how he nearly burned their kitchen down trying to make chicken soup and how he'd stumble on his own feet if he got too caught up talking about something that really excited him when they were walking. Just a week earlier, Bucky had spilled his juice all over himself because he had both missed his mouth and forgot to open it. 

To say that Bucky wasn't spy material was an understatement. Sure, in the field Bucky was great, but in his every day life he was way too goofy for a spy. 

"Sorry to disappoint y'all but... last week he spilled apple juice all over himself cause he  forgot to open his gob." Steve said with a grin. 

"Hey! We were watching Indiana Jones! Didn't have no time lookin' at my glass or anythin'." Bucky protested and Steve just grinned. The others just broke out in laughter and Bucky narrowed his eyes but smirked mischievously. "Jus' remember ya started this ya lil shit. Y're so goin' down, punk." 

"Jerk. No shit with no motorized freckles though." Steve bargained and held his hand out. "And no fuckin'round with the morning cup'o'Joe. That's drop dead forbidden." 

"No bullshit in bed either, we both sleep there." Bucky agreed. "Rest's fair game." 

They hook hands at it and Steve grinned when Bucky tugged him in for a kiss on the lips. The others just looked confused except for Tony who looked highly suspicious. Steve wondered if Howard had ever told the younger Stark about Bucky's and Steve's prank wars. He didn't care though, this would be an interesting week and he wondered how many days there'd be before the others were all pulled into their little war.

If he knew himself and Bucky  right, they only had a few hours before all hell broke loose. 


	14. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Tony get's into trouble and they talk about their pasts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lil dark. I mean, Tony and Bucky have pretty dark pasts so, read with caution.
> 
> I also would like to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. For one, it's been midsummer celebrations here with family and such. Two, This chapter just didn't want to cooperate, I know you wanted pranks but I just COULDN'T make it work so you're stuck with this instead.  
> We are also creeping closer to the Iron Man 3 movies and Thor the dark world. I hope you'll enjoy that! :)

"Would ya just stop be khaki wacky for one sec'n sit the hell down? Y're gonna drive me mad with ya damn pacing." Bucky finally snapped. 

"You know what! No, I won't stop pacing. None of this would ever have happened if you two hadn't glued down everything on my desk in the first place." Tony snapped right back as he kept on his pacing. 

"Even if me'n Stevie hadn't glued ya shizzle to ya desk there'd still had been info'bout the hostage thing an' we'd still have been hit with tranquilizers and dragged here." Bucky said dismissive as he leaned back to the concrete wall behind him. "Y'got that emergency beeper thingy out, Steve'll be here." 

Because Steve always came for Bucky. Bucky just hoped, or rather, he wished, that Steve wasn't being too reckless to get to... wherever the hell they were.

Tony just groaned loudly as he pulled a hand across his face. Apparently Bucky's assurance that his boyfriend would be there wasn't enough to calm the inventor down. Instead, Bucky silently observed the other brunet in the half dark of their tiny prison bunker as the other kept pacing. Back, forth, back, forth. One, two, three, four, five and turn. One, two, three, four, five and turn. 

Bucky sighed as he thought back on his day. It had actually started out nice, him and Steve had been sneaking around the tower before anyone had woken up. They had replaced all coffee makers with juice boxes and had done a decent job on tape every tap in the bathrooms of the top twelve floors, along with all sorts of silly things to make life terrible for others. Like gluing everything down on Tony's desk and freezing Clint's arrows. 

Then him and Steve had spent their breakfast eating blueberries, cornflakes and yogurt while watching and listening to the rest of the inhabitants of the tower slowly waking up. It had been fun and they had gotten a lot of laughter out of the whole ordeal. Not only their own laughter but everyone was pretty much laughing at everyone else's misfortune. 

The best part was that Jarvis had turned on a live feed directly into Bucky's phone that allowed Steve and Bucky  to watch as the rest of the avengers tried to go on with their normal everyday routines. His favorite part had admittedly been Tony trying to bend things off his desk without success since the two soldiers had glued it all down. They had of course made sure to use a glue that would simply dissolve itself if someone dabbed a little water on it. The inventions of the future.

However all fun times needed to have it's end and around mid day they had gotten reports about a hostage situation in a mall. Some people had been taken hostages and the guys behind it had threatened to blow up most of the mall if anyone tried any funny business. The avengers had all gone to help, only to find out a bit too late, that the hostage situation was a huge diversion and that the real targets were the avengers. 

Bucky had taken a tranquilizer dart to his right shoulder that must have contained enough drugs to take down a fucking horse because he'd gone down after only fifteen steps towards his attacker. Later, he had woken back up in a dark room that reminded him strongly about a bunker, without his weapons and a passed out Tony stark on the floor beside him. 

When Tony had woken up he had turned on a small hidden device that sent out a distress call that could only be picked up by Jarvis and no one else. Which meant Steve wouldn't be able to pick up on it without Jarvis notifying him, but also meant that the people holding them couldn't pick up on the signal either. 

Now though, Tony was driving him bat shit cray cray by pacing back and forth in their limited shared space and Bucky nearly wished the inventor would just go back to being knocked out. At least then the only annoying thing he could do was snore. But Tony Stark was wide awake and Bucky was too occupied to keep his own head clear from his time in Azzano to even put effort into making Tony be still. 

"Last time I was taken hostage I got this." Tony snapped at him, tapping at his chest. "So, I think I'm entitled to pacing." 

"What happened?" Bucky  asked and looked up at the other. This at least would keep his own head occupied. 

"They wanted me to build them one of my new missiles. They ambushed the military transport I was in and killed everyone in the car. I nearly got blown up by my own explosives. Ironic huh?" Tony said, just the slightest hysteria sounding in his voice. "The things I made to keep our men safe, killed people who wasn't even older than myself." 

"Y'learned by it though. I ain't gonna say no bullshit that s'not ya fault. Cause shit happens all the times when y'dabble with weapons. But y'did get better and learned by it." Bucky said calmly, but he did mean every word. He wasn't in the mood of lying to make anyone feel better. "D'ya think a lot 'bout what happened? I doubt they were gentle." 

"Yeah... I mean, I suppose. They did the usual things, the things you see in all movies. No food, no water and I still sometimes have trouble stepping in under the shower, too much water over my head." 

"Waterboarding?" 

"Uh-huh." Tony gave a quick nod and a shrug before finally dropping down on the floor beside Bucky. "There was this doctor there Yinsen, he wasn't there by choice either. But he kept me alive and we worked together on making my first suit, to get us out. He... didn't make it because I wasn't fast enough downloading the systems." 

Bucky sighed quietly and leaned his head back to the wall, shutting his eyes tight. There was people who were dead because he hadn't been fast enough on the trigger, because he hadn't seen a sniper coming. There were people dead because they had followed their sarge when he gave a stupid order. No one really knew what Zola had been up to because Bucky hadn't wanted to talk about it. 

Not even Steve had been told more than the basics of what had happened. He had given Phillips his report of how he had told his men to stand down when those tanks had rolled in. His thought had been _'cause at least then some might survive'_ but he'd never expected what'd happen to them. Looking back, he'd probably have made a different call.

"Back in the war, HYDRA had found the tesseract. Dr Arnim Zola was their head scientist when it came to the cube, he was the guy who figured out how to integrate their weapons with it. He even hooked up their tanks. I was the highest ranking guy around on the field that day so the boys looked to me for orders and I told them to stand down. I hoped at least some of us could survive until rescue came." Bucky began slowly. 

Tony beside him looked up on him, Bucky could hear the sound of Tony shifting his head. He knew he had full attention without even opening his own eyes. 

"We were locked into these cages and HYDRA began picking out my men, one by one and took them away. No one returned after they had been taken and we just assumed they were being interrogated then killed. Then, one of these days they dragged me out and I was ready to bite off my own tongue not to say a word to'em. Then... when they dragged me through the maze of hallways, they dragged Rory Simms the other direction... dead. Fuck... Barely recognized his face." 

"They tortured him?" 

"Experimented. Shit, all he could talk about was his doll, just started goin' steady and he was so happy." Bucky said quietly as he opened his eyes. "I was put on some kinda hospital table or somethin'. Ya know those old things for loonies? They tied my arms, legs, chest an' head down, shoved a bite guard into my mouth before starting to inject me with all kinds of shots until my blood felt as if it was on fire."

Bucky began picking the sleeve of his black captain america suit and forced his heart to stop slamming against his ribs as hard as it did. Bucky hated this part of his past, the only good thing about it was that he knew that his lost seventy years couldn't have been any worse. Sure, he really hoped he didn't have a wife and kid out there in the world, that'd be awkward. But he liked to think that maybe he'd lived a nice life without remembering it. 

"How long did they..?"

"A week? A month? Fuck I don't even know. Everyday was filled of me screaming, trying to will my body to survive whatever bullshit they were doing." 

"You wanted to live though?" Tony sounded surprised and Bucky chuckled darkly. 

"If I was alive, they wouldn't go pick another of my boys now would they? I wanted to live so they didn' have to go through what was going through me. But whatever they were doing or if it was all the pain, I began forgetting. Slowly, shit just began to fade, I couldn't remember how my ma looked, nor my siblings. Couldn't remember their names. I just kept screaming Steve's and my own name... In the end, even Steve was lost on me. Just knew I was Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes and my social clearing number." 

"The army didn't realize this must have turned you into a super soldier?" Tony asked with a frown. "Didn't they suspect something was up?" 

"Didn't tell'em. I did the health exam and passed with flyin' colors." 

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Cause... when Steve found me, he was all big and buff. He'd broken in alone in the facility an' let my guys out. D'ya know how reckless that little shit is? If I tol'em whatever HYDRA'd done had left traces, they'd send me home and no one'd keep Steve's six the way I've always kept it. I didn't want to be sent away from Steve and I felt fine, the nightmares were okay. A lot of people had'em." 

Tony kept quiet beside him and Bucky kept playing with his sleeve. His psychologist, the one that had made his evaluations had said speaking about things made it easier. Bucky didn't feel easier at all, it wasn't relieving to let it all out. It just brought back the memories along with that prickling and crawling anxiety that ate holes through his insides when he tried to sleep at nights. 

"You literary didn't have a choice." Tony said after a while, a little frown on his face. 

"I could'a fought." Bucky pointed out. "Could'a ordered the boys to keep fighting 'til last man." 

"You would all have died." Tony pointed out. 

"Yes, but we'd all have died quickly. We'd have died fighting and maybe taken some of the bastards with us. Instead, seven good men died, strapped onto tables until their corpses were only recognized by the color of their hair and their dog tags. All for Zola to do whatever the hell it was that he wanted to do. If he hadn't picked me on the seventh try, a lot more'd have died."

Tony looked down and Bucky pulled his hand through his long brown hair. These things, they hurt to even think about and that's why he didn't talk about them. He had given his report of what had happened and he'd tried to let it go. He didn't need people to tell him it wasn't his fault because he already knew that it was. He'd been the one in charge that day, he was the one who had given up his own life and the life of the rest of the boys that night. 

"It's called survivors guilt. Cause we survived when the people we cared for didn't. There'll always be things we could'a done different. I could'a demanded as the ranking military to be taken first. Steve could'a been quicker grabbing his shield on the train when I fell. You could'a started the sequence to ya suit five minutes earlier. Thing is, we didn't do that. We did what we could in the heat of the moment and it's what it is." 

"Steve blames himself for your fall?" Tony asked quietly. "I've read the report of course... he couldn't have-"

"Done no nothin'. I know. The world knows. Still, I see it in his eyes some days, the way he look at me, like if I'm a ghost. I know when he wakes up cryin'  _'Bucky, no!'_ that he's still dreamin' o'it. PTSD is hell an' people talk'bout it as if it was nothin' more than an inconvenience." 

"The board wanted to take me out of Stark Industries because they they said I had it, that I wasn't fit to make the changes I wanted to the company." Tony said with a quiet sigh.

"You have it Tony. Doesn't mean y'ain't fit to do what ya wanna do." 

"Yeah? I don't wanna stop. People keep telling me to stop tinkering, that it isn't good for me but I don't... I don't want to stop." 

"Then don't stop. Ain't no reason why y'd stop what makes you calm and comfortable. Before Steve woke up, I spent nineteen hours a day on the gym an' in the shooting range. Just went home to eat'n sleep. S'how I coped."

Tony nodded quietly and Bucky sighed before shaking his head and pushed himself up from the floor. They had been there for several hours and he was really starting to itch by the small space. And now that Tony seemed to be back in his own head, it was time for their move. Sure, they had the distress signal and maybe Steve was on his way to get them. But that didn't mean they could't meet the rest of the avengers half way. 

"C'me on, we've given'em long'nuff. Time to be gone with the wind." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not... entirely happy about this chapter but I hope it's okay as a filler while my head is arguing with me. I've got next part more thought out and planned and I hope you'll enjoy yourselves! ^^ Thank you for reading!


	15. Iron Man 3 part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Steve has to take a flight to Malibu, Steve isn't too happy about this, Bucky just want his best guy to feel good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand here we go, Iron man 3 coming up now. I hope you will enjoy and if you have any ideas and suggestions, I'm open to hear about them and maybe take inspiration from it! :)

A month had passed after the whole hostage situation.

With the clever use of Bucky's knowledge of stealth and Tony's brilliant hacking abilities they had managed to make their way from their cell and out the base without triggering any alarms. But maybe that was due to the fact that Captain America, The black widow, Hawkeye and a very angry Hulk had simultaneously launched an attack to another part of the facility. 

Short to say, with that distraction, Bucky and Tony had managed to find their stuff and pretty much just walked out of there unharmed. Bucky had been forced to take down a few guards but nothing that he couldn't handle since these people luckily enough seemed to be out of tranquilizers.

The whole thing hadn't just been unpleasant, when they came back home Bucky'd gotten the best sex he'd had in ages. There was just something special about rescue sex that made everything feel so much better. It was the perfect combination of desperation, slowly settling adrenaline and being happy that both were alive and unharmed.

Never again would Bucky be able to look at that couch without thinking about the amazing things Steve's artist fingers could do. 

However, after that, the avengers had split up. They collectively decided that they needed some time of their own and had gone their separate ways. Steve and Bucky  had gone back to DC to figure out the wonders of the new century. Natasha and Clint had gone off on some vacation somewhere in Europe. Tony and Bruce had both very low key went to Malibu. If anyone asked, for science, of course. Nothing else. 

Things though, never were meant to be calm and peaceful in the world of today. Bucky sometimes found it strange to see how a world not in war, was still a more chaotic place than it had been during one. It was as if someone had stepped in, stirred the whole world around and made sure that peace couldn't settle even after they had defeated Hitler and the Nazis. 

The first time Bucky saw the Mandarin on TV, he hadn't said anything about it, he'd just frowned. Bucky had seen a lunatic man that played leader of the world that surely would be found within a week. But as time progressed, the Mandarin wasn't found, instead he appeared again on the TV, twice, with new attacks and more dead innocent people. 

Some time after the third attack, Tony had called Bucky and Steve. He'd asked them to come and spend some days at his Malibu place with him and Bruce, to get some sunshine and catch up with some old friends. Tony had said that him and Bruce both wanted to do a checkup on Bucky's new arm, but both Steve and Bucky had heard it in the inventor's voice, something was up. 

Since Bucky and Steve were both sick and tired of the photographers and paparazzi that hid out around their home; they decided it sounded like a good idea to get away for a while. Even if the paparazzi had stopped camping on their doorsteps and Captain America's fan base seemed to have forgotten their address, it was still tiresome to spot them in the bushes spying on them when they went to the grocery store. 

"Have we packed everything, Buck? Clothes, toothbrushes, hair gel, hair ties-" 

"Steve."

"Phone chargers, your game for the plane ride, my shield-" 

"Stevie." 

"Headset, sketchbook-"

"Steve!" 

"What!?" 

Steve finally looked up from his rummaging around in his suitcase with that little pout only Steve Rogers could make look both cute and attractive at the same time. Bucky just smiled and pushed himself from the door frame and moved over the floor over to the blond. Steve just stood entirely still and watched him with his right brow arched in question. 

Bucky gently reached out and put his hand's on Steve's hips and pulled the blond super soldier close to his chest and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Steve just sighed but leaned in to the kiss and shifted his standing a little so they could get a bit closer to each other. 

"Relax doll, w're just gonna go for like a week or so. We ain't gonna move out to never return." He reminded with another soft kiss. 

"I know... I just... hate flying." Steve breathed out with a heavy sigh as he wrapped his arms around Bucky's middle and leaned his head against Bucky's shoulder. "I can't stop thinking about crashing that plane, the water surging in, the cold." 

"Hey sugar, that ain't gonna happen again Stevie," Bucky murmured softly into his boyfriend's hair, "ain't never gonna happen ever again. I ain't ever lettin'ya go." 

"It's already happened three times. First the train where you fell, then I crashed that plane, then you fell off the carrier, Buck. What if Tony hadn't been...-" 

"But he was, sugar. Look, I'm right here baby, n'so are you." 

Steve just sighed very loudly and buried his face deeper against his shoulder, pressing his body tighter against's Bucky's. Bucky shifted his arms and tightened them around Steve's body and pecked soft kisses all over the tresses of Steve's golden blond hair and down his cheek and neck. Against all odds, they were both alive when they both should have been long dead.

They were alive, and they were both happy. 

Bucky lost track on how long they just stood there. It wasn't as if fatigue came quickly to either of them, so it was hard to say if they had stood for minutes or an hour. But they weren't in a hurry, Tony had again told them to use his private jet and that meant the plane wouldn't leave until both Bucky and Steve sat safely in it.

But by the way Steve stood tense against his chest, Bucky made a mental note that they would rent a car and have a car trip on their way back to DC. He really hated seeing Steve this stressed out. 

"Hey, sugar. The flight to Paris was fine wasn't it? This'll be the same, just shorter. We'll be there in no time." 

"I know." Steve sighed quietly. "I just... I can't do it if I lose you Buck... I just can't go on without you." 

"Y'won't lose me Stevie, kay? I'll always come back to ya y'lill punk. I'll always come back to keep ya six, to the end of the line a'right?" 

Steve just grunted noncommittally and Bucky chuckled lightly as he pulled back slightly to force Steve to look at him, then planted a big kiss on Steve's lips. Steve huffed indignant but didn't resist the kiss more than that, and Bucky felt the way Steve's body slowly relaxed into the kiss and the hug they had going. Felt how tension just drained out of Steve's strong body. 

When the kiss began turning into something that would end up with neither of them wearing pants, Bucky pushed Steve back and down on the bed. When Steve made grabby hands for him he quickly jumped aside and shook his head with a smile. 

"Nope, you just sit there an' relax. I'll get the last things packed, then we'll get goin'." 

"Yes, Sarge." Steve said with his most silly stupid smile and a mock salute. 

Bucky rolled his eyes at him and muttered, "punk" but couldn't resist smiling as he went to work on packing the last of their things.

☆★☆★☆

It wasn't that Steve actually hated heights of all his heart, not really. In fact, he was quite alright with heights and flying. He knew that he would survive very long drops, he knew that planes of today had all kinds of safeties to protect the people flying. So the fact that  _he_ was on a plane didn't actually bother him all that much. 

What was making him anxious and worried though, was Bucky.

It was when Bucky were on heights that Steve's anxieties blew up like fireworks on the fourth of July. Logically, Steve knew that Bucky was just as safe as himself, that he too could survive drops that a normal human being wouldn't. And yet, Steve had seen Bucky fall from that train, and Steve hadn't been enough to save him. 

Sure, Bucky had survived, but for weeks, Steve had thought that Bucky had been dead, he slipped into a depression and wanted to die. That's the reason he hadn't even tried to get out of that plane, he'd just wanted to go to Bucky's side. And then, not long ago, Steve had again seen Bucky fall when he fell off the carrier. Again Steve hadn't been enough to save his best guy.

Even if Tony had managed to save Bucky, Steve had still seen Bucky fall and he'd been sure that he'd lost him for good.

To be perfectly honest, it felt as if someone had decided that falling to his death would be Bucky's way to go. One of these days, Steve feared it would come true, and if that day ever came, he didn't know how he would live with himself.

And that, was why Steve hated traveling by planes, and also why he was, as Bucky put it,  _moping in the corner._

At the beginning of their trip, Bucky had tried to engage Steve with a game of poker, but Steve had a terrible poker face and he hadn't been in the mood to play. Then Bucky had tried to get Steve to do a row of different things with him, like trying to get him to play other card games, had tried to get Steve to chat with him and had spent ten minutes Poking his arm while saying  _"Steve, Steve, Steve."_ All of which Steve had ignored. 

Right now, Bucky was sitting with his nose in the black device that he'd called a nintendo something, which made silly little sounds as Bucky played some game on it. Steve had glanced briefly at the screen now and then to avoid his own thoughts when they got to dark and had gathered that the blond little guy dressed in green was on some kind of quest. 

Steve would be a filthy liar if he said he didn't feel guilty about shutting Buck down when the brunet had tried to talk to him  though... but his anxieties hadn't allowed for it. Now though, about an hour into the flight, they had subdued from screaming loudly to a low mumbling in the back of his head and all he wanted to do was to sit curled up with his boyfriend. 

But he just wasn't sure Bucky even wanted to talk to him anymore. He'd been kind of rude, telling Bucky to shut his trap and leave him alone. Which was gnawing at his guts and probably was the reason his other anxieties had been pushed aside. Or rather, had been replaced with the sudden worries about questions that his minds had conjured so many times before; did Bucky still like him? 

"Buck...?" 

"Mhmm?" 

"M'sorry." 

Bucky just sighed deeply and kept tapping about on his device and Steve looked down at his hands, trying not to let the rejection get to him. He probably deserved being ignored for a while since that's what he'd done to Bucky. And still, suddenly he wanted nothing more than to get Bucky's attention, the treacherous thoughts in his head was laughing at him, Mocking him for having screwed things up. 

Then, Bucky's hand landed over his own, metal fingers lacing with Steve's. Steve looked up at the brunet, probably radiating of confusion and hope, but Steve didn't care because Bucky clearly wasn't pissed at him. Instead, Bucky was smiling at him with one of his most charming smiles and gave a small tug in their combined hands. 

Steve was quite sure no one in history of time had climbed over the arm of a plane chair and into the other person's lap as quickly as he did by that gesture. 

After some shifting around for them both, Steve settled, straddling Bucky's lap and Bucky had the metal arm wrapped around his waist while the other was cupping Steve's cheek and gently pulling in for a kiss. As his lips met with Bucky's, all worries just kind of slipped out of him until he melted against Bucky's strong and safe frame. 

Sometimes Steve wondered if Bucky knew all about Steve's anxiety problem and had figured out how to fix them. Just as Bucky had always figured out how to fix everything for him. Bucky had always walked around with a spare inhaler when Steve had asthma, he had always made sure Steve showered first so he could have the hot water, he had made sure it never was too cold in their apartment and somehow there had always been extra cash for Steve's medications or hospital visits. 

"Y're such a punk Stevie. I ain't mad at ya dollface." Bucky murmured against his lips. 

"I shouldn't have snapped at you though." Steve said with heavy heart, leaning his face against Bucky's strong shoulder and breathed in his scent. 

"If the world jus' knew how insecure y're 'bout stuff." Bucky huffed out with a little laugh.

"Shuddup." Steve grunted muffled against Bucky's shoulder.

"Ouch, my heart Stevie." Bucky said with playful tease. 

Steve just smiled against the crock of Bucky's neck at the tease. All bad thoughts and worries were chased away by the way Bucky was holding him, by how he teased him and how he acted just as he always did. Bucky was an anchor, holding him in place in bad weather, someone who made him feel small and safe again. When Bucky held him like this, he felt like the scrawny little kid again, the kid that had been able to curl up in Bucky's safe lap whenever times had been rough. 

"M'sorry I snapped at you. I guess.. I'm just scared." Steve quietly admitted. 

"I know Stevie. C'me on sugar, I've known ya since w'were tiny. Y'always go snappy when y're defensive, scared or angry. S'no big secret. Y'ain't Captain America right now. Y're my Stevie, 'n I know how'ya work." 

Steve breathed deeply into Bucky's t-shirt with a smile on his lips. People tended to forget that he was still Steve Rogers in first hand and Captain America in second. They forgot that he'd spent more years as scrawny Steve from Brooklyn than he had as Captain America, that the past seventy years didn't really count for him because he had been frozen. 

Everyone forgot... except for Bucky. Which was ironic since Bucky literary had amnesia.

Sometimes, Steve could still catch Bucky looking him straight in the chest when they initiated conversations. Back in the war, Steve had simply thought Bucky liked to look at his new fit chest, but then he had slowly realized that Bucky more likely forgot what height Steve's eyes were at. Just like Steve sometimes forgot that Bucky's left arm was made of metal. 

Bucky forgetting his size, meant that some days, he must honestly forget that Steve was Captain America too. And that, was surprisingly nice, Steve actually enjoyed it a lot more than he probably should. But he couldn't help, that some days, he really missed being small. 

Like right now, sitting in Bucky's lap. It wasn't the same as it had been when he was small enough to be enveloped in Bucky's strong arms after a long day, to just hide from the oppression of the world for a few hours. He often found himself wishing that their biggest problem in the world would once again be how they would afford food for the entire month, how Bucky was gonna pay for a package of smoke or for Steve to get Bucky up out of bed on Sunday mornings for church. 

He missed the things they had struggled with before the war. Looking back at those problems, they were just so easy, every day problems that only concerned him and Bucky, no one else. They didn't have to think about making the world a better place or to stop aliens from invading the earth. 

But it was easy to be nostalgic when you only thought of a few of the things they had struggled with. Truth was that each winter, both his ma and Bucky had been afraid Steve wouldn't make it through. Steve himself had sometimes been worried he might die when the coughing started and his fever refused to go down after a whole week. 

He didn't think he could live with being colorblind and half deaf again, to be allergic to practically everything, including Bucky's smoking habits. God, how Steve had hated being allergic to Bucky's smokes, because the smell of it had been so safe, so Bucky that Steve had wanted to smell it all the time. 

"I miss Brooklyn." He sighed after some silence and looked up from where he'd kept his face against Bucky's shoulder. "I miss our friends, I miss your family, I miss Sunday mornings when I had to drag your lazy ass out of bed for church." 

"I know... I do too." Bucky admitted with a kiss against Steve's temple. "But I don't miss you being sick. I miss your size sometimes." 

"You do? Buck, I wasn't exactly... good looking." Steve mumbled, feeling his cheeks heat up and knowing he was blushing. 

"I love that y're a beefcake dreamboat now sugar, but I liked ya all tiny and cuddly too." 

"Still cuddly, Buck." Steve said and leaned in, nuzzling his nose against Bucky's to prove his point. 

Bucky gave up a soft laugh and returned the gesture, tightening his arms around Steve and kept his eyes closed. Steve took the time to appreciate the handsome guy that was his best friend and his boyfriend all in one. Bucky wasn't his only friend, the avengers had became his friends, but Bucky would always be his best friend. 

"Not as much as ya used to. Y'used to sit my lap any time ya got the chance before... I suppose I miss it."

Steve smiled slightly and tilted his head until his lips ended up over Bucky's and placed his hands over Bucky's chest. Just how he would have done it back in Brooklyn on their old ratty couch. Bucky was right, Steve had taken any chance he could get to sit in Bucky's lap back then, now he didn't. Mostly because he was big now and he didn't think Bucky wanted him to sit in his lap anymore. Apparently he'd been wrong. 

"Didn't think you wanted me to sit in your lap anymore. I'm a bit big." He pointed out. 

"Hey, y'were a lil puppy dog and now y're all big an' grown. Still want ya in my lap." 

"I could always sit in your lap more often." Steve mumbled as he began giving Bucky tiny butterfly kisses to his lips. 

"Don' go teasin' me, punk. Y'kno' I'd love that." Bucky said between kisses. 

And Steve did, he knew Bucky had always loved it when Steve sat in his lap. To be entirely honest, Steve had always loved to sit in Bucky's lap. Whenever Bucky had been out to keep up the appearances of being straight, Steve had sat in his lap to prove to himself that Bucky was still his. No matter how many dolls he went out dancing with, Bucky always came back to Steve.

Now that he knew that Bucky still enjoyed to have Steve in his lap, he'd make sure to do it more often.


	16. Iron man 3 part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky arrives, Bucky's arm get's a checkup and it get's steamy in the lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm gonna do a warning here, for nsfw. Smuttelismut happens.

Tony's Malibu mansion was huge. 

Well, Steve had expected as much already, he had after all been to Stark's Tower more than once and he'd known Howard's taste back in the days. So it wasn't really the size of the mansion that got Steve off-guard. It was the fact that it looked like something out of Bucky's old science-fiction magazines that he used to read when they were teens. 

The mansion was large, white and looked like it had been brought from the future. Well, further into the future than they were now anyhow. The insides were spacious, furnished with fancy couches and tables, a piano stood by some large windows, TV screens, and a large balcony with a view over the sea. Everything was neat and tidy as ever, and it had Steve wondering if Tony had a large cleaning staff. Bucky had suggested robots which made a lot more sense. 

But even though the house was impressive and probably the dream of most of the people in the world... Steve would never be able to call a place like that home. Not really. For him, home was a bit crammed, a bit messy but not outright dirty. Home for Steve was a place where Bucky kept dragging stuff in and not pick his things up when he was done with them.

This was just... too clean, too big, too little Bucky. 

Of course, his view probably came from the fact that him and Bucky had once shared a ratty one roomer where Bucky always tripped over the coffee table because there wasn't enough space. Steve had vacuumed and dusted once or twice a week because of the allergies, but there had always been clothes, magazines, unwashed dishes, cigarette packages (both empty and not empty) all over the place because of Bucky.

When he'd been a kid, living home with his ma, he'd made his bed every morning. He'd kept his laundry in the hamper and he'd never left dishes. The only things that were spread out had been whatever art supplies he'd afforded. But once he'd moved in with Buck, his habits had quickly gone lost. Whenever he'd made the bed, Bucky would just pull him back down in the sheets for either a quickie or some cuddles before work.

Not that Steve had minded at all though, if there was any way to ruin a good made bed, that had been it.

So, even if Tony was very much alike Bucky, both always on the go, both charming fellas that could wrap a dame around their fingers in no time; Tony clearly didn't have Bucky's messiness. Or maybe it was because Tony had his cleaning staff, or robots, or whatever he had that cleaned for him because Steve doubted Tony was the kind of guy that cleaned by himself. Or maybe it was Pepper, they seemed quite close.

Not that Tony's cleaning habits or whether or not he was an item with pepper, was what Steve was thinking at right now though. Right now he was more occupied thinking about how good Bucky looked without a shirt on.

They were in Tony's lab, or his garage, Steve wasn't sure because there was both lab stuff and a couple of cars in the room with them. Both Tony and to Steve's surprise, Bruce were there, checking out Bucky's new arm. They were trying out it's strength, the reflexes and trying out the cables. Steve didn't understand much of what they were doing, but he did appreciate the view when they got Bucky to flex and shift where he sat propped up on a bench. 

There was a medical chair in there that, Steve assumed, Tony used whenever he looked at his arch reactor. But Bucky still simply refused getting on it. When anyone asked, Bucky said he didn't know why or he simple muttered something about Azzano. Steve didn't ask, he'd been the one who found Bucky strapped down, barely aware of anything around him and Steve'd never really gotten to know what exactly happened there or what Zola did to Bucky. Well, obviously he got Bucky something akin to Steve's own serum, and he knew how bad that had hurt...

"No pain? No problematic odd twitches?" Tony asked as the plates shifted and whirred as Bucky tensed and relaxed the arm. "No irrepressible urge to kill mankind?"

"Nah, ain't got no problem with it, s'workin' all fine. Easier to pick shit up with it an' not break'em or nothin'." Bucky replied, "and I ain't the terminator Stark." 

"We fine-tuned the sensors to fit your brain patterns a lot better than the other one which in turn made it easier for you to handle." Bruce said as he looked up from the screen he'd been watching. 

"Meaning, we're geniuses." Tony added in with a wide smile. "And I wasn't saying you were the terminator, robocop."

"I'd agree but ya head might blow up if it get any fatter. So, Banner, y're a genius." Bucky  said with a cheeky grin as Tony stepped away from him. 

"Thank you. For the both of us, his head might actually explode." Bruce said with a chuckle. 

"Hey! Who's side are you on here?" Tony complained loudly. 

Steve chuckled lightly and shook his head before he moved over to Bucky who was holding his right hand out for him. Tony and Bruce kept throwing playful tease between themselves. Something Steve thought was good since despite Tony's image and his ability to get on with anyone, he didn't seem to have too many actual friends. He supposed that came with being that smart. Howard hadn't seemed to have that many friends either, but then again, it had been war. 

Bucky pulled him out of his thoughts by pulling him close as soon as he could reach Steve's hand and Steve didn't resist or struggle when he was pulled into a quick kiss. Of course, Steve knew it might be a bit rude or awkward towards Tony and Bruce to kiss Bucky here in the lab but... Steve had just recently come to terms with the fact that it was alright for two men to be like guy and a doll. 

They still hadn't confirmed what the media was suspecting yet though, but he was getting there. If a bit slow. But Bucky kept saying they weren't in a hurry and Steve trusted that Bucky would tell him if he took too long. They knew each other good enough not to hold back on things like that anymore.

"Hey sugar, y'kiss all the cookies like that hm?" Bucky hummed close to his lips. 

"Nah, just my favorite fella." Steve said with a grin. 

"A damn lucky cookie I say. Cause y're the cutest dip I'll ever meet y'kno'." 

"Hey! I ain't a dip, Buck. Flattery won't get you anywhere when you also insult me you know." Steve informed. 

"Nah, I know, that's why I did all that flexin', ya like it?" 

Steve chuckled lightly and leaned in for another quick kiss and Bucky broke out into one of those million dollar grins that could get all the dames on their street to swoon. Well, Steve got a little jelly legged whenever Bucky shot those grins his direction too, but he'd learned how to fend them off after all the years he'd been with Bucky. 

"Are you two love birds done? Or will I have to put up a no flirt rule in the lab?" Tony sassed. 

"C'me on, as if y'could go three hours without flirtin' Tony." Bucky sassed right back with a laugh.

Steve just smiled at that, Bucky was probably right about Tony not being able to hold it three hours before he was flirting again. Steve had after all even found Tony flirt with his gadgets and machines once when there hadn't been any other person around to flirt with. However, Steve also knew for a fact that Bucky could only go about thirty minutes before he'd slip up. Flirting was part of Bucky and he did it a lot. 

"Well, it's my lab, so obviously  _I_ get to do what I want." Tony deadpanned. "Seriously though, I'm going for lunch with Rhodes, you are all officially invited and you can't say no." 

"No." Bruce said without even looking up form his stark-pad. "I don't do crowds." 

"Okay, Bruce get to say no. But you two don't since Rhodes' been nagging me for weeks to get to meet Captain America, either of you." 

"Steve's the captain, I'm just his sarge." Bucky said quickly.

"What can I say, every captain need a gorgeous sniper at his six." Steve agreed with a solemn smile.

"There it is again! Old men flirting. Aren't you both like a hundred by now?" Tony huffed with a slight frown. 

"Hey! you try'n look this good when y're my age." Bucky said with a laugh. "Besides we cant' join ya anyway. There's a beach out there and I wanna jump the water before Steve's fanclub catches up with where we are."

"Ah well, I tried. Pepper is going to swing by later and there'll be a delivery around three... uhm... just ignore that and whatever it delivers..." Tony said, looking a bit thoughtful over what he had just said. "Anyways, I'll be going. Jarvis, play something sad so the know they'll miss me when I'm gone." 

"Of course, sir." 

Steve arched a brow over the brunet's request and watched as he began walking away ridiculously slowly. What was turned on in the speakers was the titanic music and for once, Steve actually understood the reference. Which was quite nice if he had to be perfectly honest, it was tiresome to never understand what people found so funny because he'd missed it while spending time as a Popsicle.

Tony of course made his exit very slow, very dramatic; turning in the door to blow a kiss to an invisible audience and bowing before walking backwards up the stairs. Steve wondered why on earth that man hadn't become an actor, he knew a thing or two about it himself and he was fairly sure Tony would fit like a soldier's foot in a boot if he ever tried it out. 

"While he is out, I intend to do some explosion-free yoga. If you need me I'll be upstairs." Bruce said with a smile as he stood up from his chair and made his way to the door. "And Jarvis, turn that off will you?" He said as he walked up the stairs. 

The music stopped and Steve turned back around to look at Bucky with a smile, only to nearly jump out of his skin as the brunet was already deep in his personal space. The wicked smile on his boyfriend's lips told him that they were about to do something mischievous and he briefly wondered if they'd glue all of Tony's stuff down again or put lighteners in Tony's shampoo. 

But neither of those things seemed to be what Bucky had on his mind. Because before there was anytime to even come with suggestions or questions, there was the press of Bucky's soft lips against his own. The sudden impact made Steve yelp ridiculously in surprise before he melted into the kiss and his hands found their way to Bucky's hips. 

"How pissed d'ya think Tony'd get if we'd have sex in his lab?" Bucky asked between a couple of quick kisses. 

"Christ, Buck.... no. He's probably got- _ah!_  Buck..." His words and his chain of thoughts had been rudely interrupted by Bucky's metal hand dipping into the back of his jeans to squeeze his ass. 

"C'me on sugar, he ain't even gonna know. It'll be an adventure." 

Steve was going to protest, he really was. But then Bucky began kissing and nipping along his jaw and Steve knew he was a goner. The small whimper he gave up was more than enough proof of that. Especially for someone like Bucky, who'd known him since he was just a little kid, someone who'd been with him for years and probably knew each and every of Steve's sounds and looks. 

There was no point in fighting it, not really. Not when it was a battle he didn't actually wanna win. 

Besides, what were the odds that Tony would walk back into his lab and bust them? He'd gone for lunch with Rhodes. Tony wouldn't ever know if Bucky just bent him over the desk and held him down while...  _oh fuck._ Why would he even care if Tony found out? Their bedroom was on the other side of the mansion and his pants was already getting way too strained and going anywhere seemed as impossible as having a picnic in enemy territory during the war. 

With renewed effort, Steve dove in against Bucky, attacking his lips with determination. Bucky just made a content sound, a sound that Steve happened to know was the equivalence to  _"Atta boy."_ So Steve wrapped his arms tightly over Bucky's shoulders to press his own body closer against Bucky's.

Steve let out a small gasp as Bucky pushed him backwards until his back collided with what he hoped was a solid wall and not a window. But he didn't have it in him to actually find out because the metal hand was still down the back of his pants and one metal digit was slipped teasingly by the tip into his ass. They didn't have any lube, so Steve desperately hoped Bucky had some sort of plan B or at least the sense to use spit. 

"B...Buck..." Steve managed to moan out while grabbing onto Bucky's shoulders tight. "Buck... Buck..." 

"You look real killer-driller in jeans, sugar. Christ, when ya put'em on this mornin', I just wanned to push y'back on the bed an'eat ya for fucking breakfast." Bucky growled by his ear.

Steve's breath hitched and all he managed to reply was a tiny whine as Bucky's low voice washed over him. He probably should answer something smart, like  _"I'd make good breakfast."_ But he just seemed to have stopped to know how to... word. His brain wasn't at all cooperating with his ability to speak and Steve would blame that entirely on the fact that all his blood had rushed down to his prick and if Bucky kept his teasing up, he'd pop in his pants before Bucky even touched him. 

"Remember when y'were all scrawny an' I flipped ya over the kitchen table? I wanned to do that all mornin' too" Bucky continued in his low deep voice that was filled of dirty promises.

"What.. ah.. What stopped ya?" Steve asked, having to swallow mid-sentence. 

Bucky just grinned at him and before Steve knew what was what, Bucky's hand was out if his pants and he was staring at the various objects on Tony's desk. He propped himself up on his elbows when Bucky nudged his legs apart and hummed happily when the brunet began peppering his neck with little nips and kisses. 

Bucky's strong chest and musky smell was safe for Steve, he didn't have to be the strong one when Bucky was having him like this. With anyone else, this would have made him feel trapped and egged on his fighting instincts. But with Bucky he was safe and he could relax for once. Steve knew Bucky would never hurt him, nor would Bucky let anyone else hurt him either. He knew Bucky'd never leave him and _if_ anything ever happened, Bucky'd always care for him. 

"Cause I like lunch better than breakfast." Bucky murmured by his ear. "We ain't got no lube, so I'mma eat ya all nice an' plenty." 

Steve let off a soft moan at the thought of Bucky and what Steve already knew the brunet could do with his tongue. He would probably never understand how Bucky managed to be such a blabbermouth when they were at it though. While Steve was gasping and squirming against the desk by Bucky saying a few dirty lines, Bucky was chatting him up as if they were on a bar and not about to get down to business. 

He let out another quiet little whine while Bucky worked his pants open and gasped when they fell to the floor along with his briefs. Bucky chuckled against his neck before the right hand wrapped around Steve's hardened Johnson and the gasp Steve had begun with turned into a throaty moan. 

"That's my cookie." Bucky murmured against Steve's neck between hard kisses. "Now hold still, sugar."

Steve was about to try snarking something back about holding still. But before he could make up anything even remotely smart, Bucky had shifted down on his knees behind him and the metal hand had slapped his bare ass. The slap made Steve groan, but the bite that came a moment later made him yelp in surprise. He had kind of expected the slap, but not the bite. Not that it was a bad surprise though. 

His yelp though, emitted a laugh from his jerk of a boyfriend and Steve opened his mouth to complain but didn't get the chance before Bucky was getting down to business. Slowly working Steve open by prodding and licking, sending sparks up his spine and making it hard to hold still. He tried to get his hands busy by grasping at the edges of the desk, but he didn't dare to hold on too hard. Having to explain dents in Tony's desk would not be a fun thing to do. 

He tried to discretely roll his hips to follow Bucky's tongue. But that only resulted in Bucky pinning him tight against the desk with the metal hand and squeeze threatening by the base of his prick, making Steve entirely immobile. Bucky pinning him against the desk though, made Steve lose the internal battle he'd been having with himself to be quiet and he began gasping and moaning as if his life depended on it. 

It wasn't that he found it necessarily comfortable to be pinned against a desk or anything. It didn't give him room to move much at all and he was laying chest flat against a couple of pens and he wouldn't describe that as pleasant. But he the things Bucky  _could_ do to him... that Bucky's strength matched his own enough to actually keep Steve pinned down even if Steve would have struggled, that he didn't hold back on his squirming. That turned Steve the hell on.

"Christ, Buck. C'me on I can-Ah!" 

Bucky had slapped his ass at the exact moment that he'd pressed his tongue against Steve's pleasure point and Steve hadn't been able to stop himself from crying out in surprised pleasure. True, he'd always liked things a little rougher, when Bucky bit him, slapped his ass or pinched his nipples. Nothing too painful, just enough for him to feel that Bucky wasn't treating him like something fragile. Enough for him to feel that Bucky didn't think he was broken. 

The transformation to his new body hadn't changed that wish, even if he knew that no one saw him as broken or fragile anymore, he still had the need for confirmation. 

"No tellin' me what to do." Bucky scolded and placed a kiss where he'd just slapped. 

"Then hurry the hell up Buck." Steve whined to the desk. "Don't have all d-ah! Buck!"

Bucky had bit him again, this time harder and Steve secretly hoped it'd leave a mark. At least for an hour or so if not longer. Bucky though just laughed lightly before getting back into licking and nipping, sliding a finger in beside his tongue into Steve's spit-slick entrance. 

This whole thing was slowly driving Steve mad. How long did Bucky actually believe Steve could keep his boner at bay? The serum was good for a lot of things, making him stronger, faster, bigger... stopping him from pop though? Not so much. So, Steve decided it was about time that he played dirty right back. Well, as dirty as his lust muddled mind could come up with anyhow. 

"Buck... please? Just want you, sarge. Please? I don' need no nothing else. Just you, right now." He moaned out, stretching out as best he could over the desk and slid his legs as wide as wide as his pants down his ankles allowed. "Please Buck? Need you." He gave up as a last little unhappy whine like he used to do when he was younger and stuck in bed because he was sick. 

Steve gave up a little surprised sound when suddenly both tongue and fingers slipped out of him, leaving him open and empty. But he grinned when he heard Bucky curse and she sound of a zipper.  _Mission, Driving Buck mad: Accomplished._

"Y're such a lil'punk, Stevie." Bucky groaned behind him as the metal hand came to rest at his lower back. "Such a damn hot lil shit an' I'm fuck'n lucky to have ya." 

"Can't argue there." Steve hummed as he tilted his head to look at Bucky. "You gonna get goin' or whah!" 

Bucky had pushed all the way in in one go without warning and Steve was fairly sure that he was seeing actual stars. He had gone from really empty to so goddamn full that he wasn't sure if it might actually be too much. Someone moaned very loudly and he wasn't sure if it was him, Buck or both of them. Maybe he _had_ been a little shit that should have let Bucky continue to prep him for a while longer because  _holy shit Bucky was so huge inside of him._

 "You still with me punk?" He heard Bucky ask from somewhere afar, a slight worry lingering in his voice.

"Jerk... you're fucking huge." He groaned out and bit down on his own arm. "How don't ya kill the dames with that thing?" 

Bucky snorted in amusement somewhere above him, or possibly by his ear and then slapped his ass. The slap kind of worked though, it popped Steve out of the initial shock of being so entirely full all at once. He let out a deep moan and tried to stretch out and shift to lay a bit more comfortable across the desk and to get the cock in his ass not to feel as big as it did. 

"Ain't interested in no skirt, Stevie," Bucky chuckled, as soft butterfly kisses was delivered over Steve's neck and cheek, "never was interested in the skirts when there was a you." 

"I know." Steve hummed in return before trying to shifting slightly forwards, then back again. Yep, that was going to work. "You gonna start movin' or what?" He said playfully. 

"Always so bossy, I don't wanna rip ya a new one." Bucky said with a laugh. 

But at least the brunet did start moving. At first tiny little slow saw movements that made Steve whine, desperate for more. But Bucky didn't fall for his whining this time. Instead he took his good long time until there was actual proper thrushes with the slap of skin between loud moaning and groaning from them both. Bucky's metal hand was holding an iron grip on his hip and the other hand was stroking Steve's prick in time with the pace he set up for them. 

Steve didn't have to do anything more than enjoy the ride and moan like a call girl who was getting the ride of her life each time Bucky hit his spot. Of course, anyone with Bucky inside them would probably do that though. Somehow Bucky had an remarkable accuracy and knew exactly where to hit with each thrust, knew when to slow down and when to speed up. But it didn't mean Steve wouldn't complain when he though things were getting a bit too slow and he could handle more. 

When Bucky began twisting his hand on Steve's Johnson, Steve knew he was done for. The only form of warning that he managed to fire off before whizzing all over Bucky's hand was moaning Bucky's name really loudly. He was fairly sure some of it was ending up on the desk, but he didn't care as his vision whited out and his entire body turned into jelly. 

He was only vaguely aware that Bucky finished off with a last few thrusts before his boyfriend's heavy weight collapsed against him with sloppy kisses to the back of his neck. He could take it of course, Bucky's weight. But had he been able to think and not had his head filled of cotton, he'd probably have been concerned about the desk that  creaked ominous under their combined weight.

But as it was, Steve wasn't even sure how long they just stayed like that. He didn't really care either, he'd finally gotten to wind down from the plane trip, and he just wanted to curl up alone with Bucky for at least a couple of hours. 

"Wanna grab an ice-cream and watch the clouds?" Bucky mumbled after a while.

Steve who had just began to come back to himself gave up a soft smile at that. Because, yes, yes that was something he damn well wanted to do. He wanted to lay on the sand and stare up at the clouds while Bucky was making a mess of himself trying to eat an ice cream while laying on his back. 

"You think Tony has any ice-cream we can steal?" 

"Who ain't got no ice-cream?" Bucky huffed with a smile in his voice. 

"Bet Fury doesn't." Steve said with a little chuckle. 

Bucky just snorted in amusement before getting up and pulling out of him. Steve whined involuntarily at the loss but pushed himself up as well, it wasn't as if they could stay connected forever anyway. He tugged up his boxers and his pants, realizing that before they went anywhere, he was in a desperate need of a bathroom. Else things would get really gross when Bucky's fairy juice began dripping out. 

"Yeah, I'm gonna need the bathroom first."  He stated with a groan as Bucky stretched out in a way too sinful manner. "And you clean up the mess on Tony's desk." He added. 

"Aye, aye, cap. See ya in the kitchen in fifteen, handsome." Bucky said with a little laugh and a mock salute. 

Steve just rolled his eyes but couldn't resist smiling at his sarge's silly behavior. But he made sure to hurry off to the bathroom before Bucky had time to see it. But no matter if Bucky was the most childish and ridiculous ninety year old Steve had ever met in his life... 

Bucky was the goddamn best boyfriend in the world. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO! I AM ALIVE. 
> 
> I have bought a puppy, named Bucky. He eats shoes and time so I don't get much time to write. I am so very sorry about that really.   
> I have not abandoned this fic, I swear, but the chapters will come slow as I can only write while he naps and I'll tell you, pups don't nap a lot. 
> 
> ANYHOW: Thank you all for staying with me, for reading, for commenting and for all the lovely kudos you give me and have given me! I hope this made up for the long wait! :)


	17. Iron man 3 Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky goes to visit an old friend.

For better or for worse, Steve and Bucky weren't at the mansion when the Mandarin decided to make it go boom crash bang. In fact, only one day before the attack they had scheduled a flight to get back to New York. 

While Steve had been occupied trying to get caught up with his new present, fought aliens, thought about all the people time had taken from him and tried to handling his PTSD... Bucky had been way more productive and worked his magic, somehow having found the people they had known that still were alive. He had found what was left of the Howling Commandos at least, Dugan and Gabe. The rest of them had passed on, either in the war or after it somehow. 

Before they had left Stark's Malibu mansion, _in fact pretty much when they stood with their bags in their hands halfway out the door_ ; Happy had been caught in another of the Mandarin's explosions. The terrorist had targeted Chinatown this time and by what they assumed, an unhappy accident, Happy had been caught in the blast of it.

Luckily enough though, the former bodyguard of Tony's had survived. Not without injuries since he'd ended up in a coma, but the doctors said he'd make it through and that was what's most important. Tony had told Steve and Bucky that the doctors had done everything they possibly could and he'd be okay, he just needed some time to get back up on his feet.

Steve and Bucky had of course offered to cancel their trip, to stick around and help out, keep guard at the hospital or anything to make sure Happy'd be okay. But Tony had told them to  _"Go meet with your old people friends. This isn't superhero business anyway."_ They had both seen it in Tony's eyes that he wasn't going to just live that one down but for right now, it had been nothing the two of them could do so they'd just have to wait until Tony asked for their help. 

So, off the two soldiers had went, making a quick stop by the tower _(which happened to be where they stayed whenever they were in New York, just like any other of their Avenger friends)_  for a quick rest and food, then had headed straight to the address Bucky had managed to get his hands on. The address had lead them to a nice little house in the suburbs where the two super soldiers now stood, anxiously by the door that neither had the guts to knock on. 

"I still ain't believin' w're doin' this." Bucky said, rare nervousness radiating from the brunet. "This is bananas y'kno?"

"I know...  It's kind of... weird? And you are all nerves, will you relax before you make me nervous?" Steve huffed, knowing full well he'd been nervous even without Bucky's nerves showing. 

"I mean, Stevie they kind of lived their lives... we just, stopped?" Bucky said and finally tore his eyes off the door to look at Steve. "Maybe we shouldn' poke dead ghosts?"

"I wonder what ours would'a looked like.." Steve said quietly, electing not to answer to the second part of Bucky's statement.

"Dunno. I mean, chances are that we wouldn't even have survived anyway." Bucky pointed out. "We could'a been dusted off by a bomb on our heads or anythin'" 

Since the conversation was sort of going somewhere Steve rather it not, he lifted his hand and pressed the button of the doorbell before either of them had time to chicken out. There was a loud ringing noise, and Steve had the urge to turn around and run, one look at Bucky told him that his sarge had something similar in mind. But before they had time to do anything, their sensitive hearing picked up what was the unmistakable sound of a child screaming and then the tapping of small feet rushing towards the door while someone hollered "I'll get it, it's mine!" Then; "No Molly! I wanna! It's my turn!" 

Both Steve and Bucky smiled stupidly at the door, the urge to run having ebbed away quicker than it had ever appeared. They both loved kids and it was a damn shame they couldn't have one of their very own. But the fact that these kids most likely were related to Dugan meant that he had got to have kids after the war, and if anyone had been suited to have a bunch of children, it'd be Dum Dum. 

A loud war cry of  **"Wahoo!"** was heard just before something heavy crashed into the other side of the door, followed by loud shrill screams of bloody murder. Okay, so they were really _loud_ kids, again, not really a surprise after all. Bucky actually chuckled where he stood, arms crossed in front of him, left arm hidden under his jacket and a glove. 

"Well, it's Dugan's grankids, what exactly did we expect?" Bucky asked playfully and Steve suffocated a laugh behind an amused snort.

A moment later, the door swung up, not by the kids though, _(Steve assumed that_ _they were the moving pile on the floor),_ but by a young woman with a kind smile and flaming red hair. Steve'd put her around her early thirties. The kids wrestling on the floor with loud cries and squeals he guessed were between six and eight, one girl and one boy. The girl, on top of the wrestling match had as red hair as the woman and the boy had chocolate-y brown hair.

"Hot damn, it really is you. One never really knows with grampa, he comes up with things sometimes." The woman said, curiosity and surprise painted all over her face. "You two! Take it out in the kitchen before you flip someone over!" Steve jumped startled over how quickly the woman changed from friendly curiosity, to a colonel in the army. She must have noticed because she smiled apologetically and held her hand out. "I'm Jessica, nice to meet you and I'm sorry about the little rascals."  

"Look! It's Captain Ameirca! Did you really crash a plane!?" The boy squealed from the floor before both kids were up on their feet. 

"And throw your mighty shield on enemies!" The girl half roared. 

"And attacked a tank with a motorcycle!" 

"How about hitting bad guys in the face!" 

"Or shoot them! Did you shoot them?! How many people have you dead-ed?"

The questions came so quickly that Steve barely even heard them at all, but before he could even think about answering any of them, Jessica stepped in. "You two! Off! To the kitchen at once or you are both grounded for a week!" The two kids hesitated for a moment and Steve was surprised they did, because the way she barked out orders, he nearly headed into the kitchen himself so he wouldn't risk getting grounded. But, the kids caught their senses and quickly darted out to the kitchen quick as ever hollering about cookies instead. "Sorry, sorry, they are really excited today. Please come in." 

"No worries ma'am. I have siblings, all of'em monsters, I swear." Bucky said with that million dollar smile that made the dames swoon. "I'm Bucky."

"Steve Rogers." Steve said after Bucky as they stepped inside. "And I'm used to Bucky so no harm." He added playfully as he closed the door behind them.

Bucky sent him a look saying  _'oh really? We playing that game?'_ But Steve just pretended he hadn't seen it at all and smiled very innocently at Jessica who'd given up a little laugh at his comment. It wasn't his fault that people thought he was a puppy and that he got away with practically any little shit business he was ever up to. It was really just Bucky and the Howling commandos that seemed to see through his act. Okay, Peggy and Philips had seen through it too after a while.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Bucky and Steve. And don't call me ma'am, it makes me feel old. Jessica is the name." She said cheerfully, shaking both of their hands one more time.

"No worries, _Jessica_ , then." Bucky said with a little wink and that flirt in his voice that he had around most dolls. 

It wasn't that Bucky tried to flirt with every woman he came across, it was simply a reflex and Steve knew it. Back in the days, people had needed to think Bucky was a ladies man because then they wouldn't suspect that Bucky went home to be with Steve. Getting caught being gay back in the thirties... well, that'd have been bad. Now though... well, Bucky had done it so many years it was simply stuck in his head. Just like it was stuck in Steve's head to keep close count of their money and going for the low price products while doing groceries even if they didn't have to anymore.

"Hands of my granddaughter Sarge. She's married." 

An old man stood by the doorway, leaned on a cane. What little hair he had left had been silvered by time and his skin was aged and wrinkled after a life seemingly well lived. But there was no doubt of who the man in front of them were, even if he did lack his usual bowler hat and looked to be a hundred years older.

"Holy cow, Dum Dum? Christ! You look like y're a hundred!" Bucky exclaimed. 

"Shit, Dugan?" Steve said, knowing he should't be surprised, but here he was. 

"Kiss your mother with that mouth capt'n?" Dugan said with mirth. "Come here you idiots! You owe me big times for pretending to be dead for seventy years!" 

Someone once pointed out to Steve how silly it looked when he stood beside regular people because he was both taller, wider and broader in all directions, (Steve wasn't sure, but he think it was Bucky who said it but could also have been Tony.) So, when Bucky and Steve both stood beside Dugan, giving their very old war buddy a hug each, it's got to have looked really ridiculous, but neither of them really cared. 

It wasn't any awkward hugs or one armed slaps on the back either. It was full blown  _I'm happy you are alive_ kind of hugs that people who'd been in the army together would give each other. You didn't go through a war with your team without tying bonds that would last forever, no matter if you happen to go missing, assumed dead for seven decades or not. 

"Look at you two, you look... well, the same. Alright, can't say I remember the sarge having that long hair though." 

"What? Gee old geezer! I've always had this great lookin' hair. Y're bananas if ya ain't got memory of it." Bucky said in mock offence but with a grin on his face. 

"Get the hell outta here Barnes! That isn't army standard regulations." Dugan laughed and shook his head. 

"Neither was your hat, don't see anyone tellin'ya to take it off." Bucky shot back and poked his tongue out. 

"Nice to see you didn't age inside your head either. Now come on, we can't stand out here all day. Jessica probably already got the cookies out." 

Steve and Bucky both kicked off their shoes, a pair of sneakers and a pair of black boots joining the mess of shoes already on the floor. They both abandoned their jackets with the rest and then headed after Dugan who'd already made his way back into the house.

The house was bigger than Steve had originally thought, and well lived in. There were things mostly everywhere, collectibles, photos, toys (which made Steve believe this was where the kids lived). It wasn't a mess that was too much of a mess though, it wasn't dusty or dirty, instead it was a homey mess from the people who lived there. One door they passed had a big star wars poster and the name MOLLY written under it. Steve couldn't tell which of the star wars movies though since he admittedly kept mixing them all together to Bucky's great horror.

The living room where Dugan lead them was also nice, there was a comfy looking corner couch, two armchairs, a table with compartments under a glass top and a nice looking TV that was currently on some kids TV show low in the background. As they got settled in (Steve on the couch and Bucky on the floor with Molly in his lap and the boy clinging to his back) Dugan made a quick introduction of them all. 

There was Hayley, his daughter; she had as red hair as Dugan himself had once had, even if some of it had slowly began to turn more silver. Hayley (the lady who'd opened the door) was the mother of Jessica and thus grandmother to Molly and Samuel. Then there was Keith, Jessica's husband and finally Thomas, Dugan's youngest son. Dugan had more family but they simply weren't around since they had other things to do, (half of them having believed this whole thing had been a prank or some imagination of an old mind). 

"So! Now that we're all sitting down, what the hell happened to you two? One took a nosedive from a train and the other crashed a plane into the arctics. There are easier ways to avoid people's birthdays you know." Dugan said playfully. 

"Grampa!" Jessica chided. "I don't think it was intentional!" 

Steve though, liked the fact that Dugan was poking fun at them. It was a question that constantly came up when he talked to people; _How did it feel? Why didn't you do it another way? Do you regret it? How did you survive? Was the ice cold?_ Truth was, talking about it always turned into dark places for Steve because it had felt like a ton of pressure rushing into his lungs when the water flooded him, the biting cold but not freezing over. What Steve remembered was drowning... and he hated to remember it.

"It's fine." Steve said with a smile. "I didn't really do anything, I went down with the plane and didn't wake up until a couple of months ago when they found me again. Been kicking about since then, trying to adjust, gotten back into the game."

"We saw you fight those aliens on the TV. Hayley agreed. "You really threw yourself right back out there didn't you?" 

"Well, Buck was already around to keep my back. I couldn't just let the world go to shit when I'd just woken back up now could I?" He said with a cheeky little smile to hide the fact that his cheeks had heated up. 

He probably wouldn't ever get used to how people saw him, how they acted as if he was some kind of a hero. Back in the days, he'd gotten a bit jelly kneed when the dolls suddenly lined up to dance with him after the serum. It had passed,  _thank god,_ but he still got a bit embarrassed by people talking about him or what he did as if he'd acted like a true hero. 

He wasn't stupid of course, the serum did allow him to do impressive things that people without it could only dream to do. There was the stamina, how fast he could run, how long he could keep up a fight and other more enjoyable activities. The strength allowing him to lift things he'd ever just dreamed about. He wouldn't lie, that was great thing while vacuuming even if that wasn't the serum's intended purpose. He knew the serum gave him abilities beyond normal, but he still didn't see himself as a hero, he was just Steve Rogers but stronger.

"And don' ask me what I did." Bucky said where he was braiding Molly's hair. "I ain't rememberin' shit after I took the fast ticket off the train. I woke up in a hospital in Asia some time ago, some guy tellin' me's 2012 an' I had this new fancy piece o'junk. I was kinda pissy'bout it all too, escaped a couple'o times to go searchin' Brooklyn for that lil'shit over there." Bucky said, indicating Steve with a nod. 

"Buck! Language." Steve scolded. 

"You said shit! and pissy!" Molly gasped. 

"Now you said it!" Bucky said dramatically and with comically wide eyes. Molly gasped again and put her hands in front of her mouth as if the words had just slipped out without her allowing it. Then she smacked one hand in front of Bucky's mouth too as if by a precaution. It was adorable, Bucky with a kid, but then again, he'd always been adorable with his younger siblings too. 

"Not even time can clean that potty mouth." Dugan said in amusement. 

"We told you, now why don't you tell us? You have been a lot more busy than we have." Steve pointed out and made a little motion around the room. 

Him and Bucky had just actually lived for little less than a year, while Dugan had lived an entire lifetime since they last met. To Steve and Bucky, that was a lot more interesting to hear than their own adventure of kicking alien butt. Steve wanted to know everything about their friend and how  he'd come to get the large family that sat in the room or that he obviously had outside this house. 

Dugan didn't disappoint either. He told them about the end of the war and how the two of them had just missed it by a very short time. He told them about the missions the Howling Commandos had continued with after Steve and Bucky were gone, told them how Peggy and how they'd worked together. It sounded as if they had had a lot of adventures together. 

Then he told them how he'd met his wife, about them starting a family. He told them about getting children and then grandchildren, how lucky he was to get to see his own great grandchildren. How his wife had passed away and it was painfully clear that he missed her, but that he was confident he'd see her again when time came. Not that it seemed as if he thought he'd be joining her anytime soon, but one year or another he'd go. 

He told them how he sometimes still were in contact with Gabe and gave them the number to his granddaughter since he himself didn't have a phone. Then they got the number to the home where Peggy was currently living, but she was old and Alzheimer was slowly chewing away her memory. She had married though and was mother of two, lived a good life. 

Steve sent a look to his brunet, a silent question between the two of them. The small understanding smile he got in return told him that Bucky wouldn't mind it at all if they went to visit her some day. Steve was aware it might be painful to see her, that she might not even would remember him... but he wanted to see her, he wanted to have the chance to say goodbye for real... without kisses this time. 

"So, when are you guys going going to tell us you're finally getting it on?" Dugan asked after some hours of random chit chats. 

Steve felt his face flame up in the matter of seconds and he hoped against all hope that his face wasn't reflecting the heat by blushing. But he knew it was a foolish hope since he blushed for practically nothing with his goddamn Irish pale complexion and the serum amplifying his every emotion, embarrassment included. 

"Dad! You don't just ask people that!" Hayley exclaimed, but Dugan looked way too smug to have either heard or listened to her. 

"I just did. I'm an old man, I don't have time to wait for the right time to ask." He answered smugly. "Besides, we all saw sarge's guns, you don't just get sweetheart grips of your childhood friend for nothing. I call bullshit." 

To Steve's surprise, maybe to his horror, Bucky just barked out a laugh and held his hands up in surrender at that. "Well, shuddup, he was the cutest blond at the block." The brunet shared where he was still seated on the floor while the two kids were entertaining themselves by making up sentences with fridge magnets on his metal arm. There hadn't been much questions about the arm since Bucky couldn't remember anything about getting it. 

Steve right now though, should have felt other emotions than the ones he did, such as panic or anger against Bucky for outing them. But instead, he just felt a bashful pride in Bucky so openly letting Dugan know that they'd been an item all the time. Dugan who came from the same time as them where homosexuality was something bad and forbidden. 

"We've stuck together since we were kids." Steve admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck, hoping to rub away some of his blush. "We just haven't announced anything... I'm not... uhh.." 

"Ready?" Jessica suggested with a smile.

"Yeah." He agreed sheepishly. "I mean, it was illegal, we'd been blue carded for sure if the army found out and probably sent to jail."

Dugan gave up a little chuckle at that and shook his head, making Steve arch a confused brow. "They already knew. We all knew. No one really wanted to send Captain America home though after you had broken in to Azzano and got us all out. The rest of us, we just didn't care." He said playfully. "It was kind of encouraging how you two kept it going in the middle of war. I think we all needed the break from how bad everything else was."

"Wait, what?" Bucky asked surprised. "We were sneaky and everyhin'!" 

"The way you looked at each other, we all knew Steve single handed stormed Azzano because he had figured you were there, Peggy told us. They way you both fuzzed about each other when one got hurt, how you bickered about small things and how you were constantly in sync. It wasn't just in the battle field you two were in sync you know. I don't think anyone was or ever will be as married than the two of you are without being it." 

Bucky stared gobsmacked at Dugan and Steve was concerned he'd might have misplaced his own jaw somewhere on the floor. He'd thought that him and Bucky had been subtle. That no one'd ever suspected a thing since no one had accused them of anything. After all, they'd been best friends since childhood, wasn't that what best friends did for each other? Fuzzed and made sure they were both alright?

"We got together when I was fourteen but I kissed him the first time when I was twelve." Bucky admitted and ran his unoccupied hand through his hair. "And we didn't look at each other in any kind of way... do we?" 

"You look at each other like lovesick puppies." Dugan confirmed with a hearty laugh. 

Steve could just smile bashfully, because he knew that Dugan probably wasn't over exaggerating things if he was to be perfectly honest with himself. Ever since he got the serum, his ability to lie and keep secrets had gone straight into the garbage. It was unfair how Bucky kept all those abilities and knew how to lie like a professional in any situation.

But then again, Steve had already figured that their serums must be a bit different from each other. Zola never had the formula, he'd simply created his own version of it from what Redscull had used on himself. They should probably all be happy Bucky still looked his handsome self, even if he did have a gleaming metal arm. Not that Steve minded the arm though, he loved to watch the flawless metal flatter Bucky's movements whenever he rolled his shoulders or picked things up with it. 

Steve was pulled out of his thoughts though as the screen of the TV changed from the kids show that had been tuned in in the background to a shaky video of Tony's mansion. Or whatever the hell was left of Tony's Malibu mansion, most of it seemed to be burning or laying in the sea. With his enhanced hearing, Steve didn't need them to raise the volume to hear what they were saying on the TV. 

"It is yet unknown if the origin of the attack was indeed the Mandarin, but many speculations say as much since the eccentric playboy made a direct threat just a few days prior. Whether Mr Stark himself made it out is hard to tell, but there has yet so far been no sign of him. CNN have this exclusive clip on the avenger Bruce Banner, more commonly known as the hulk-" 

"Holy fuck." Bucky mumbled, already fishing for his phone, presumably to try to call anyone that might actually know what was going on. 

Steve had stopped listening and just stared blindly at the screen. He couldn't lose another friend. Tony was a royal pain in the ass that caused more annoyance than anyone Steve'd ever met, but he was still family. In his wonky little way, he'd added Tony and the rest of the avengers into his mismatched little family he had going with Bucky. Steve couldn't handle lose any of them...

Losing Phil had been bad enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I haven't updated in forever and I'm so sorry about that. Life just isn't entirely cooperating right now and I don't have the energy to write like I used to write.  
> On a happier note, I am NOT done with this fic, I have so many plans and ideas and I hope you will all enjoy reading what's being written in my slow pace. 
> 
> Also! A question; are any of you interested in 'Avengers family vacation' after the iron man story line? I was thinking maybe taking them to Spain, but I'm not sure, so I figured I'd ask you people what you want! ^^


	18. Iron man 3 part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble in Tennessee!

Tenne-fucking-ssee. 

If anyone would have asked Bucky a week earlier what he thought about Tennessee, he’d pretty much have just shrugged and said he didn’t really know the place that much. Probably just that he’s heard there’s a lot of horses living in that area and that Dougan once had told him he had a relative there... Niece or something like that.

Now though? He’d have a much different answer to that question.

If anyone would have asked Bucky from this day and on what thought about Tennessee, he’d have told them to go shove a stick up their asses. That he’d preferred the goddamn trenches back in 44 rather than going back to Tenne-fucking-ssee.

Now, it wasn’t actually **_that_** bad, it was just so fucking cold. Ever since Bucky woke up in that hospital without any memory of what had happened the last seventy years, he’d hated the cold with a burning passion. He didn’t know why since the cold didn’t really bother him physically like it might used to have done. But goddamn it, in his head he was a mess about the cold.

Anytime he was in the cold, it was like if he saw the inside of a black room where the ice and cold was slowly creeping into his bones and threatening to devour him. The psychologists had said it was probably a repressed memory from when he fell of the train in the alps. Bucky wasn’t sure that's what it was though, because he remembered falling and that was a different thing. A different feeling.

He was also really bent about not having Steve with him. After being parted from Steve ever since he woke up until Steve was found again sic months later, he hated the thought of being parted from Steve. To **actually** be parted from Steve sucked even more than just the thought of it.

And all because some fat headed terrorist had decided to blow stuff up all over the goddamn country. Normal terrorism was easier, a lot more centered and you didn’t have to travel all across the states to figure things out. This mandarin guy was just behind the fucking eight ball, bananas, and Bucky hated him, it, and everything revolving the fucker and how the lunatic was parting Bucky from Steve.

So, how was the Mandarin to blame for Bucky walking around without Steve in a freezing town in Tennessee?

Well, apparently, after the attack of Tony’s Malibu mansion and the news that Iron man had been presumed dead… Tony had somehow ended up in Tennessee for whatever god forsaken reason.

Bruce had been sent a message through a secure channel inside one of Tony’s helmets. The message had been something about Tony being safe and alive, having stolen a poncho or something like that. _Bucky hadn’t been listening very much on the unimportant details_. What Bucky had been more interested in though, was to sweet talk JARVIS into telling him where on earth Tony had ended up on, which happened to be Tennessee.

The reason to why Steve wasn’t there with him, was because Steve was like a big patriotic neon sign, signaling for trouble ten miles away. Telling the trouble that it should come fight him. And since Tony was presumed dead, by both the press and most likely the bad guys, they would do best in making sure this remained a stealth mission for as long as possible.

Steve had been pouting like a kid who didn’t get to go out playing in the mud after a big cleaning. But the blond punk had also known it was true. So, off Bucky had gone, alone and in a bad mood.

And that, is why James Buchanan Barnes found himself in the snow of Tenne-fucking-ssee.

Now, Bucky didn’t have any exact location where Tony was. JARVIS had only been able to give him a general direction of a town where he’d last been in connection with the iron man suit that Tony had escaped in. Which was also something that worried Bucky, that JARVIS had lost connection with a suit. That meant that Tony was unarmed and without his suit, wherever he was.

Maybe this whole search would have been easier if he’d come there during the daytime. He’d have been able to ask people if they’d seen a stranger passing by that looked uncanny much like a certain Tony Stark.

But Bucky had arrived during night time, and to be perfectly honest, it was probably for the best. Even if it made things harder for himself, it still increased the chances for this mission to stay an undercover mission and would draw less attention to himself from possible enemy eyes since they had no idea who was the enemy or what they looked like.

Now, Bucky’s face wasn’t as well-known as Steve’s face was, but a lot of people still knew Bucky’s face. He’d played around as Captain America for four months and stuff like that really stuck with people, hell, he even had a sneakier version of Steve’s suit whenever they went on missions these days… People were bound to remember him.

He wasn’t in his uniform tonight though, he was dressed in dark jeans and a tee. Ironically enough, a dark blue tee with the captain America shield on it, _(he couldn’t resist having something Stevie with him)_. A black hoodie jacket with a big hood that easily covered his face without it looking like if he was trying to hide it and a pair of finger less gloves.

The worst part about going under cover, except for the obvious part that meant he’d have to be away from Steve and walking aimlessly in the ice and snow _(God, he really wouldn't have survived in game of thrones)_. Was that he couldn’t bring proper equipment for the job. He had a couple of hand guns and a whole array of knives and some very minor explosives, but he’d been forced to leave his rifle in his car to not pull any unwanted attention from the locals.

Bucky sighs deeply and stops in his tracks. He’s been in this goddamn city for about an hour and still there’s been no sign of his friend. He’s found a bombsite that looks remarkably much like the Mandarin’s bombsites, even if this was supposedly not having anything to do with the Mandarin. He’d also checked the local stores, bars and diners. Most stores had been closed of course, and the diner had been pretty empty. The bar had been where he’d actually found people, but there had been no sign of Tony.

He’d been slightly tempted to go by that stupid meme thing and shout something offensive about science to see if Tony would shout something dumb back. But that would have very much worked against his whole undercover deal, so he’d decided not to do it. 

Bucky stares at the bar, having taken the entire circle around the town and ended up back where he’d pretty much started. The snow has a very eerie way of muffling the world and Bucky is slowly getting that feeling of being boxed in and soon the pain will come and run through him like a thousand knives at once while the darkness would be pressing him together until there was nothing left...

But the pressing silence is broken by loud gunshots.

Now, he knows he’s not supposed to be thankful about gunshots, but here he is, very happy that they’d broken the silence and his incoming panic attack, it really wouldn’t have been a good time to break down on.

The gunshots are coming from the bar he is staring at, so, without thinking, Bucky sprints across the street. He can help if there is an actual shooting, and if Tony is involved, well, then he’ll hit two birds with one stone.

And as it turns out, that’s exactly what it is, because just as he’s about to run into the bar, he collides with someone in a hurry out. A certain someone called Tony Stark himself, the very person Bucky has been looking for. He should have guessed, if you wanted to look for your superhero avenger friend, look for the spot in town where there is the most trouble.

“Godammit Tony!” Bucky exclaims loudly.

“Come on Robocop!”

Tony doesn’t even seem to be surprised over Bucky’s appearance, he just stops for a moment before moving on. He is also cuffed? Did Tony get himself arrested and then shot at? What or who were they even running away from?

Bucky only reflects for a few moments of a second before he’s following Tony across the street. And that’s when a third part joins the confusion, a guy who just stepped out of a car pulls a gun and Bucky knows very well that he won’t have time to grab his own, take aim and shoot before this guy would, so cover is the best they can do.

Bucky throws himself behind a car, and he can see Tony throw himself behind another one. The shooter however, have completely missed his target, because just as he took the shot a kid throws a snowball at his face. Giving Tony and Bucky some well needed extra seconds to run for cover and plan their next move.

But of course, the person Tony had been escaping by running away from the bar has walked out on the street while he wasn’t looking. It's a lady, not too young but not too old, looking kind of crazy and Bucky sees her get her hands on a rifle by ripping it out of the hands of some guy. Bucky turns to look at Tony, trying to make  up a plan, but Tony just then jumps through the glass of a store.

Bucky however, is a lot more focused on the kid that had helped them just moments earlier. So, he makes a quick decision that Tony can handle himself. His main concern will be aimed on the kid who threw the snowball. If there is something he knows, it’s that gunmen usually doesn’t like to be fucked with, and usually it didn’t matter if it was a kid who did the fucking about and not an adult, that person would be in some serious danger.

So, instead of following Tony to help him with the doll with a shotgun, Bucky dives the other direction to another car. From there he can see both the guy with a gun and the kid. The kid is hiding behind a power pole and that’s a seriously risky spot to hide. Not only because it's rather bad to stand beside a power pole in a gunfight, but also because it doesn't provide much cover.

Bucky pops up by the hood of the car, keeping the left arm slightly in front of his face to be ready to deflect bullets when they would start coming his way. Then he opens fire at the gunman, trying to create some cover for the kid to run away with.

“Get the fuck out kid!” He shouts across the street.

This however doesn’t result in what he’d hoped. Him opening fire already caused the gunman to open fire back, and the kid? Well, the kid makes his zig zag way over the street in the hail of bullets and then pops in behind the same car as Bucky.

“Jesus Christ kid! Keep the fuck down.” He cusses while he keeps shooting.

He knows he’s been hitting the guy more than once by now. He’s wasted an entire clip goddamn it. But the guy just… starts to glow in a freakish orange, like dragon fire of a movie or something and the bullets doesn’t seem to leave any wounds.

When his second clip goes out, Bucky pops back down behind the car to put in a third one. What kind of un-killable being was he fighting here? He really hopes Tony is having an easier time taking down the doll down than he had with this guy.

“What do we do now? Is that guy like immortal, like a vampire? Aren’t you Captain America, but like the new one? Where’s your suit?”

It’s the kid, bombarding him with a billion questions about everything that really wasn’t helpful right now. He was trying to focus on getting this guy down and questions like, if he was captain America, didn’t help at all. And if this guy was immortal they were in deep fucking shit here. What was he supposed to do against a vampire? Find a wooden stick and stab him to death while he was being shot at?

“Wha..? Just stop bein’ a blabbermouth for a moment will ya?” He gruffs, not having time to be polite right now.

He pokes his head back up over the hood of the car, only to dive back down again quickly to avoid a bullet in his head. Okay, so, the shooter has moved to their right. They’ll have to move covers unless they want to be fish in a barrel ready to be shot.

“We’re waitin’ for his clip to go, then I’ll try’n use my knives, bullets ain’t workin’ for shit. But we’re gonna have’n move to the short side o’the car.”

“Why do you talk like that? My grandmother used to say blabber mouth. Is it how you really talk in Brooklyn or is it like a thing from back then?”

Bucky groans and grabs the back of the kid’s jacket and drags him while crouched down to the short side of the car so they’ll avoid getting shot. From this position, he might be able to cover the kid so he could run away. The moment the shooter’s clip would go out, he’d attack with a knife and hope the guy had just the one gun.

“Y’ll run away on my sign, get somewhere safe, like a store. Understood?”

“But I can help!”

“Kid!”

“It’s Harley!”

“Harley, cover!”

“Fine, fine.”

Why is it that he always runs into the most stubborn kids? And why do they always remind him of small versions of Steve? That always makes him very protective, because he remembered all the times back in Brooklyn where Steve had been stubborn and gotten into trouble and Bucky had done his best to get him out of it. This kid in particular reminded him about that.

“On three. One, two, three!”

Bucky was just about to throw himself out on the street to open fire, but instead there was a big explosion, two or three stores from where him and Harley were currently hiding out.

Instincts had taken over at once, he’d pushed the kid against the car and shielded him from the blast with his own body with a focus on the left arm. It was like going into protection mode and he’d always had a soft spot to protect kids. Partly because of Steve and partly because he had lived in a home with three younger siblings.

But there’s only the one blast, and it isn’t too bad, things quickly goes quiet again and there doesn't seem to fly anything more than a little glass and some metal. Him and the kid, Harley, seems fine. Well, quiet except for the slight ringing noise in his ears. He knows it’ll go away within the closest thirty minutes though, so it’s nothing too bad.

“Explosions dangerous ‘nuff for ya? Go get cover, now.”

With that, he gets up from the ground and jogs over to the explosion site, only to find Tony, as he had hoped, alive. Well, that’s at least something. Tony is stumbling slightly and looking a bit roughed up, but he is alive. What better, the shooter that Bucky has been fighting seems to be gone… He wished he could say he honestly thought the guy would have been scared off by the explosion. But that’d been too much to wish for so he’d just keep his eyes open.

“Where did you go to?” Tony asks, making Bucky roll his eyes.

“There was a kid with a… never mind. Did the explosion kill her? Because her glowy friend didn’ seem very bothered by bullets.”

“Hm? Yep, yep. Seems dead enough.”

Bucky follows Tony’s gaze up to the electric wires up in the air. There’s a body up there, probably the woman with the shotgun. He wasn’t entirely sure though since she had severe burn injuries all over her face and hands from what Bucky could see.

“How did you get here anyway?” Tony then asks.

“I drove. JARVIS told me you were in the area, we figured you’d need some backup.”

“The others here too?”

“I was aiming for stealth mission, so no.”

“How is Bruce? Pepper? They’re not..?”

“They’re fine, a bit shaken up and Pepper was gonna take your botanist friend to somewhere safe.”

Tony is about to say something in reply to that, but there’s a very loud ominous creaking noise coming from behind them. It sounded like metal being strained and failing, Bucky had heard it enough times when he still worked in the garage back in Brooklyn and down at the docks that he knew that this couldn’t be good. If you heard metal creaking at the docks, you let everything go and ran the opposite direction or you'd lose a limb or a life.

This time, the creaking came from the water tower going down, and Bucky didn’t take any time to put philosophy over the issue. Instead he began running, Tony did the same, but they ended up taking very different routes and Bucky lost track of where Tony went once the water and metal and all other sorts of junk came crashing his way.

Bucky’s own salvation from getting washed away was jumping up on a parked car behind a building, pressing close to the concrete. He would **not** have appreciated getting wet in this cold piece of hell that people called home. Well, his boots and the lower part of his pants got wet, but he could live with that.

When the blunt of the whole thing passes, Bucky pulls up one of his guns again and quietly and carefully begins to make his way around the area. Sure, the gun hadn’t done much help before, but maybe if he got in a perfect headshot it would do some good. Like, in zombie moves where you had to damage the brain and the zombies finally went down.

He could hear Tony call out for someone, maybe he’d seen someone getting caught in the water? Bucky hoped it wasn’t the kid. Then it’s the sound of someone talking. Or more rather, someone mockingly calling for help in a high-pitched voice as if imitating a child.

Bucky quietly makes his way up a pile of rubble and lays down flat on his stomach. From here, he is looking down on the scene with a very good vintage point for a head shot. Tony is looking like he’s stuck under some metal junk, but he doesn’t look too hurt. He is talking to the shooter, and the shooter is holding Harley. 

Of what he can hear, shooter guy is demanding some kind of file. Bucky has no idea what that is all about, so he simply lets it go. He wishes he’d have had his rifle right about now. A handgun was perfect to keep concealed, but the aim wasn’t the best and he didn’t want to accidentally shoot the kid.

“Remember what I told you about bullies?” He can hear Tony say.

There’s suddenly something very… Steve about the kid. He gets this look in his face that Bucky knows very well. Steve used to get it all the time when he’d gotten a very brilliant and dangerous idea that would likely end with a bloody nose and three stitches.

Bucky prays for some fucking miracle that the kid isn’t about to put himself in any worse danger than the one he’s already in. He knows how it can be, people who tries to be heroes to impress people who had unfair powers and advantages.

Usually, those people ended up dead in a ditch with no one remembering their sacrifice.

This time though, there’s no actual reckless behavior, no dangerous moves. Just a very sudden blinding flash of light that stings Bucky’s eyes a bit. It must sting the shooter’s eyes too, because he drops Harley and the kid has the good sense of running away quick as ever.

That’s when Bucky sees his shot, literary a shot and he pulls the trigger twice in a quick row, gun popping. At the same time, there’s the sound of one of Tony’s reactor blasts and all three of these things hits the shooter in the chest and Bucky sees him fly across the area and into some rubble.

“I’m getting way old for this bullshit.” Bucky groans.

But he can’t stay laying in a pile of wet rubble all day, so with a groan he pushes himself up and quickly slides down the small slope to help get Tony free. He finds that it's just Tony's leg that’s stuck, but with Bucky’s advanced strength, the soldier can easily lift the metal beam and allow Tony to scramble out to freedom.

“Where’s the kid?” Are Tony’s first words as soon as he’s standing.

“Harley? He-“

“No, the other kid, EJ. Just before the water he was… We have to find him.”

With a loud creak and crack, Bucky has let go of the metal he’d been holding up and without much more words, they set out to search. Tony continuously calling out the boy’s name.

They are soon joined in their search by a woman, middle aged, edging on the older direction. She wasn’t the lady that was shooting with a rifle earlier on though, _thank fucking god fort that._ She just looks like a normal woman, shocked over the destruction and what she most likely have just witnessed.

“Tony!” Harley’s voice calls out. “Tony, I found him!”

Harley is popped up from what seems to have maybe been a shed once, but that is now more looking like a black watered pool. The kid is also keeping another kid over water, even if the other kid is not visibly conscious.

Bucky, again aided by his strength can easily pull the unconscious boy, probably EJ, up from the water and over to a relative flat space. This while Tony and the woman is helping Harley.

The kid isn’t breathing and Bucky can’t feel any pulse, so he doesn’t spend much time starting compressions. He’s seen enough kids die in the fucking trenches, not older than EJ. He won’t let another kid die on his watch when there’s place for rescue.

“Come on kid!” He snaps, not angry, begging.

“Okay, I’ve got an idea.” Tony says, “just keep going.”

“He’s not breathing.” Harley says, staring at Tony.

Bucky though, figures Tony can work his idea around him, because he’s not ready to stop the compressions. From the corner of his eye, he can see Tony wire something around his fingers, then pull the arc reactor out of his own chest.

Bucky is ready to shout at Tony that this really isn’t the time to commit a very slow suicide. But then he remembers. The reactor is an electromagnet firing off electrical pulses. Tony’s idea is most likely to reroute those pulses into a heart starter.

“Okay, move aside.”

Bucky doesn’t need to be told twice and he retracts from the unconscious kid to leave Tony to his work.

The moment the reactor comes into contact with EJ’s chest, there’s a violent jolt of electricity. It’s powerful enough to toss Tony back over a meter. Not that it seems to discourage Tony who is quickly back at it. Again, tossed like a glove by the violent backlash.

The woman who is with them looks as if she is crying, or it could just be water all around them. But she seems to know EJ, maybe she’s his mother, maybe they’re just relater or maybe they simply know each other. Possibly, this woman is watching her child die.

But Tony seems to be about as ready for that to happen as Bucky feels, because he’s back at it again. And as they say, the third time really is a charm.

The third jolt from the reactor sounds a lot worse than the first two jolts. But this time Tony doesn’t fly back, what does happen however, is that the kid spits out a small shower of water and starts coughing and moving again, breathing on his very own.

Bucky is quick on pressing him back down when he starts to move as if to sit up. Sitting up was the last thing the kid was supposed to do, Bucky knew. When they’d been kids, Steve’s mama had given them a lecture on how to save someone who had nearly or was about to drown; you preform CPR and if you get them breathing again you put them on their sides while you waited for professional help. Secondary drowning was a thing, especially with kids.

“Trust me kiddo, y’ain’t wanna sit up in a while. Just flip over on ya side’n breath a bit so the water gets out.” He instructs firmly.

“Tony!”

Of course shit isn’t done. It’s Harley exclaiming Tony’s name, and Bucky looks up, just in time to see Tony slowly go down. He is holding a tight enough hold of his reactor to make his fingers go white and he was looking as if he was about to go into a fit or possibly pass out.

“His reactor, put it back into his chest.” Bucky instructs Harley, who happens to be at Tony’s side. “He has sharp.. just do it.”

The explanation why the reactor was there wasn’t actually important. Bucky was just used to explaining sick conditions because that had been an important thing whenever Steve had needed help, since he’d been allergic and had had a bunch of conditions.

Turns out, Harley is really good at listening at instructions as long as no one is firing a gun at them. Because while Bucky puts the lady in charge of the kid who nearly drowned, _telling her she need to keep him sideways for a bit,_ Harley has managed to bend the reactor from Tony’s tight grip and is putting it back on it’s place in Tony’s chest.

It works instantaneously and when Tony gasps Bucky just falls to his ass in relief. He just need to sit for a moment because this had really turned into one helluva day.

“Steve’s gonna kill me.” Bucky snorts in amusement.

He’s too exhausted and that manifests in stuff just suddenly seeming hilarious. He knows it’s because he’s survived and the adrenaline is messing with his body, but damn. Tony just pats his shoulder, giving up a laugh. It’s slightly hysterical and Bucky can’t help to sort of echoing it.

Fuck, he really, **really,** hated Tennessee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? An update?  
> Y'all can go thank my boyfriend for this because he was the one who told me he'd read it a long time ago and wanted more! So, here's more!
> 
> Also note that I decided to go with the deleted scene version, you should all check it out!

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are really appreciated and makes my day. :) I hope you'll enjoy this thing and I apologize for any eventual errors in grammar or spelling, I suffer from dyslexia.  
> If you have any questions or simply wanna say hi, I can be found here: http://isalahadow.tumblr.com/


End file.
